ArmInfo.The Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, chaired by Judge Anna Danibekyan, gave permission for MP of the Hayastan faction, former Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Armen Gevorgyan, to leave for Strasbourg to participate in the PACE meeting.
Gevorgyan's lawyer had previously filed a petition to allow his client to leave the country from April 23 to April 29. It was noted that the next plenary sessions of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe will be held on April 25-28 in Strasbourg, and Armen Gevorgyan, as a member of the National Assembly, is obliged to attend the session.
Danibekyan recalled that earlier the court did not give permission to leave, since it did not exclude the risk of Gevorgyan not returning. According to her, despite the fact that this risk still remains, the court takes into account the arguments specified in the petition. In particular, Gevorgyan's planned speeches in PACE on the situation around Artsakh.
It should be reminded that second President of the Republic of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan are charged with the act provided for by paragraph 2 of part 4 of Article 311 of the RA Criminal Code (taking a bribe in especially large amounts), and Gevorgyan - by paragraph 2 of part 4 of Article 311 and paragraph 1 of part 3 Article 190 (legalization of incomes obtained illegally in especially large amounts) of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia. Thus, Kocharyan faces imprisonment for a term of 7 to 12 years with confiscation of property or without it, and Gevorgyan - from 6 to 12 years with confiscation of property or without it. The case is based on the testimony of citizen Silva Hambartsumyan, who told the investigation that in 2008 she gave a bribe in the amount of $ 7 million to persons close to Robert Kocharyan for further transfer to Kocharyan, Serzh Sargsyan and Armen Gevorgyan (former head of the RA Presidential Administration). Hambartsumyan said she did this to avoid government interference in her business.