Ex-commander of Artsakh defense army put under house arrest

ArmInfo.  By decision of Judge Vardges Sargsyan of the Anti- Corruption Court of Armenia, the pretrial detention of former Defense Army Commander Lieutenant General Mikael Arzumanyan has been replaced by house arrest. His lawyer, Yerem Sargsyan, announced this on his Facebook page.

It should be noted that career military officer Mikael Arzumanyan has  been under arrest since September 1, 2022. At that time, he was  charged under Part 4 of Article 375 of the Criminal Code of the  Republic of Armenia, adopted on April 18, 2003 (which corresponds to  Part 3 of Article 549 of the current Criminal Code), with abuse of  power. The charge stems from a retreat order given to the troops  liberating the Areg Hill and adjacent combat positions during the  2020 war in Artsakh. As part of a separate criminal case concerning  negligence in organizing the defense of the city of Shushi and  adjacent areas, Arzumanyan was charged on August 30 under Part 3 of  Article 376 of the Criminal Code of Armenia, adopted on April 18,  2003 (corresponding to Part 3 of Article 550 of the current Criminal  Code - military negligence).

Opposition politicians consider the case against Arzumanyan  politically motivated.

As a reminder, Lieutenant General Mikael Arzumanyan assumed command  of the Artsakh army during one of its most difficult periods -  October 27, 2020, during the 44-day war, replacing the wounded Jalal  Harutyunyan. During the same period, he was promoted to lieutenant  general. He resigned from this post at his own request on September  11, 2021.