Member of the Judicial Council Uses State Car and Gas at Public Expense

The newspaper “Joghavorout” reports that according to its sources, member of the Judicial Council Sergey Chichoyan has been using a state car assigned to the president of the Gegharkunik region court, with the license plate 077 TT 01, for years now. Moreover, he is utilizing gasoline provided by state resources, which he has no right to do. Furthermore, the president of the Gegharkunik court has long ceased to be in that position, and the Judicial Council member should not have access to a state vehicle or gasoline.

We approached Sergey Chichoyan to clarify whether his actions constitute an abuse of official position or misappropriation of public funds, and whether this could be a reason for the current president of the Judicial Council, Gagik Jghangharyan, to take Chichoyan under his wing, sidelining Ruben Vardazaryan.

In response, Chichoyan stated, “The cars serve not the presidents of the courts but the courts themselves, and by the directive of former president of the Judicial Council Gagik Harutyunyan, on the days of scheduled sessions, Judicial Council members were allowed to use these vehicles. This way, public funds are also saved on travel expenses, which I have never received. Therefore, discussing abuse of official position is unnecessary. And finally, my friendly advice to judge Ruben Vardazaryan is to pay attention to the conduct rules for judges.”

For more details, refer to today's issue of the newspaper.