Investigation Underway to Clarify Circumstances of Dissemination of Data on Individuals Who Died from Coronavirus

On June 1, 2020, at 23:09, a post was made on the social network Facebook by the page named "Zndan" with the identification data "zndan711". The post was titled "Who will respond for these innocent victims? Unfortunately, we have lost many lives due to the virus, and that number increases every day. Would everything be so sad if we had normal leadership?" The article included a photocopy of lists of individuals who died from the "Coronavirus" pandemic. The lists specified the names, surnames, patronymics, dates of birth, dates of death, addresses, and names of medical establishments for 132 individuals.

In response to this incident, on June 3, 2020, the Criminal Police Department of the Republic of Armenia initiated a criminal case under Article 144 of the RA Criminal Code (illegal collection, storage, use, or dissemination of information regarding personal or family life). The case has been forwarded to the Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia in Yerevan, specifically for the Central and Norq-Marash Administrative Districts, and has been accepted for prosecution.

A request for subscriber data has been submitted to the General Jurisdiction Court of Yerevan to clarify the IP addresses that accessed the Facebook page "Zndan" with identification data "zndan711", which has been approved. Measures are being taken to identify and locate the individual suspected of committing the alleged crime. The investigation is ongoing.

Notice: A person suspected or accused of a crime is considered innocent until proven guilty by a court decision that has entered into legal force in accordance with the procedures established by the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.