Verifying Pashinyan`s words in hit-and-run of pregnant woman case  requires recordings of radio conversations - lawyer 

ArmInfo. The recordings of radio conversations between the cars of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's motorcade in the case of the fatal collision with pregnant Sona Mnatsakanyan were destroyed or deliberately concealed. Otherwise, we would have found out who gave the order to increase the speed. This statement was made by the lawyer of Sona Mnatsakanyan's legal successor Raffi Aslanyan on July 30 after the court hearing at which  the verdict was delivered in the case.

Recall that on April 26, 2022, at about 18:05, in Yerevan, a police  car accompanying the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia hit a  29-year-old pregnant woman at a pedestrian crossing at the  intersection of Leo and Paronyan streets in Yerevan. She was taken to  the Nairi Medical Center, where she died. On July 30, 2025, police  major Aram Navasardyan (the driver of the car) was found guilty by  the court, and the preventive measure chosen against him - a written  undertaking not to leave the republic - was left unchanged. The court  scheduled an additional court hearing to determine the preventive  measure, which will take place on August 13 at 12:00

In a conversation with journalists today, the lawyer of the deceased  woman's successor recalled that the preliminary examination confirmed  that there was a violation in the driver's actions, he exceeded the  speed limit. Thus, the speed of the Toyota Prado, which Aram  Navasardyan was driving, at the time of entering the intersection and  under braking conditions was more than 108 km / h. It is obvious that  before this moment the speed of this car was at least 120-130 km / h,  he emphasized. Meanwhile, the speed of the vehicle escorting  special-purpose vehicles, the escort in cities and towns should not  have exceeded 100 km/h, but it was approximately 108 km/h.

However, since the radio conversations were destroyed or deliberately  concealed, that is, during this time, before the accident, it is also  impossible to give an exhaustive answer to the question of what  instructions were given and whether there was an order to increase  speed. The presence of these recordings could help verify the  veracity of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's statements on July 16  that Mnatsakanyan was hit not by his personal car, but by the car  escorting the prime minister's motorcade, and therefore he personally  has nothing to do with what happened.

"There is one circumstance here that is very carefully hidden.  Namely, who ordered the increase in speed.  The defendant's lawyer  constantly hints that Navasardyan is not responsible for the speed.  That is, perhaps he was given the order to increase the speed. It  seems that Aram Navasardyan has become a scapegoat," Aslanyan said.  Today, the Ministry of Internal Affairs explains the lack of  recording by a technical malfunction that took place at that time.

As lawyer Raffi Aslanyan pointed out, at this stage the court found  the defendant, police major Aram Navasardyan, guilty under Part 2 of  Article 242 and Article 242 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of  Armenia dated April 18, 2003. In this regard, the injured party is  satisfied with the decision.

The issue of punishment will be considered at the stage of additional  hearings, which will take place on August 13 at 12:00. However, under  Article 244, punishment will not be imposed, since according to the  Criminal Code, which entered into force on July 1, 2022, leaving the  scene of a traffic accident is further decriminalized.

As for the punishment under Part 2 of Article 242, Aslanyan  explained, at the time of the incident, the old Criminal Code was in  effect, under which Navasardyan faced imprisonment for up to five  years. Under the new Criminal Code, the act with which he is charged  provides for imprisonment from 2 to 5 years. But given that the new  code has been tightened, the old Criminal Code will be applied.

Referring to the arguments and complaints of the defendant's defense,  Raffi Aslanyan noted that Navasardyan's lawyers have the right to use  any legal means to defend their client. "However, when the defense  turns this into legal blackmail - the day before, lawyer Ruben  Baloyan stated that Sona Mnatsakanyan, perhaps because of her  political views, deliberately did not give in, deliberately backed  away: That is, when they try to attribute suicide to the victim -  this in no way fits into the legal field," Aslanyan emphasized.

Earlier Sona Mnatsakanyan's mother Armine Makinyan noted that her  daughter's death did not occur immediately, according to the expert  assessment, after about 1.5 hours. "Whatever instructions the driver  received - to stop or not to stop, purely humanly he was obliged to  stop, even if he was threatened with dismissal from work. The Prime  Minister of the Republic was obliged to stop and see what happened  there.  This, it seems to me, does not require any comments," Armine  Makinyan said.