ArmInfo. The case over violations during the COVID-19 pandemic is also connected with former Minister of Health, and now a member of the National Assembly from the ruling Civil Contract faction Arsen Torosyan. RA Minister of Justice Grigor Minasyan stated to journalists on March 13 at a briefing, commenting on the arrest of Yerevan Vice Mayor Gevorg Simonyan, who had previously been Deputy Minister of Health.
When asked how he knew that the case also concerned Torosyan, since the Anti-Corruption Committee did not mention the former minister, Grigor Minasyan replied that the former minister himself made publications about this. <There is no paradox in all this, this is normal, people have their own views and grievances. In his first or second statement, Torosyan personally raised the issue that these orders were given in his time. In publications, he even asked to participate. Naturally, he is involved in one way or another>, the minister said.
When asked whether the news circulating in the media that an application would be filed to the Prosecutor General's Office to initiate public criminal prosecution against Torosyan and deprive him of immunity was true, Minasyan replied that he did not have such information, this was the secret of the investigation. Minasyan added that he had read the former minister's statements and was aware of his intention to participate in the process. <This is the fight against corruption, when there is no division into friends and foes. Members of the political team have no privileges," Minasyan said.
It should be noted that Yerevan Deputy Mayor Gevorg Simonyan, who previously served as Arsen Torosyan's deputy, was arrested on suspicion of committing fraud. The latter, in turn, on his Facebook page pointed to the fabricated nature of the criminal case. According to him, the depreciation of 2 years of painstaking work of the whole system by these fictitious accusations will cost Armenia dearly. <The strange thing is that neither the previous minister, that is, me, nor the current minister were interrogated. My numerous attempts to get me interrogated turned out to be futile, and I see intent here, because after my interrogation, the fictitious thesis that someone deliberately failed to fulfill their duties would be completely nullified. After all, the orders mentioned in the statement of the Anti-Corruption Committee were given by me, and no one could know better than me both the purpose and the logic of their issuance. One of the orders concerns the organization of coronavirus work, and the other concerns the discharge of patients hospitalized with coronavirus disease. All this gives reason to believe that the Committee was more interested in publicly targeting these hard-working individuals than in the circumstances of the case>, the former minister noted.