‘Zibiliks’: The Director of ‘SAS’ Fined

The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction published its verdict today regarding the case named ‘Zibiliks,’ which involved allegations of bribery during the pre-election phase of the Yerevan City Council elections on May 14, 2017.

According to the judgement, former Yerevan Mayor Taron Margaryan's election headquarters leader, HHK member Hrayer Antonyan, and Stepan Sahakyan, the director of the ‘SAS’ supermarket chain, were fined 2.5 million dram.

Other defendants in the case, including Armen Azoyan, Yervand Beglaryan, Ashot Gevorgyan, Hovhannes Galstyan, Minas Shahinyan, Aleksan Khachatryan, Taron Sargsyan, and Seyran Hakobyan, were fined 2.3 million dram each, while Heghine Poghosyan received a fine of 2.25 million dram.

It is noteworthy that the prosecuting attorney, Hayk Petrosyan, had requested a three-year prison sentence for Hrayer Antonyan and Stepan Sahakyan.

Previously, it was reported that eleven individuals faced charges related to bribing voters and assisting in this activity during the pre-election phase of the May 14, 2017, Yerevan City Council elections.

Notably, the criminal case had been terminated in July 2017 due to the lack of evidence of a crime. The YELQ party appealed the decision of the Special Investigation Service, and based on a ruling from the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction in 2018, the prosecutor's office decided to overturn the termination of the criminal proceedings, which was then sent to the Special Investigative Service for further investigation.