Decision to Arrest Yerevan Deputy Mayor Challenged in Court

The decision to arrest Yerevan Deputy Mayor Gevorg Simonian has been challenged in court.

This information was shared by Simonian's lawyer, Emin Khachatryan, in a conversation with Armenia Today. According to Khachatryan, there are no grounds for Simonian's arrest whatsoever.

"The first-instance court did not adequately evaluate the submitted materials, which did not meet the minimum threshold of reasonable suspicion. Moreover, the decision of the first-instance court to arrest is not substantiated or justified regarding the existence of reasonable suspicion and does not stem from the factual data of the case," he stated.

According to the defense, the decision to arrest Gevorg Simonian is formulated in a declarative nature, related to the person’s reputation, previously held positions, and current roles. "It has been noted that the high-ranking positions he has occupied and the related connections could be used to exert influence on individuals involved in the case," Khachatryan remarked.

Addressing the actions of the defense team, the lawyer expressed his confusion that the reputation acquired over the person's years could now be negatively attributed to him and serve as grounds for arrest.

"But the most important thing is not that; even before discussing the grounds for arrest, I firmly assert that the prosecuting authority has presented no material to the court. A document of about 2000 pages has been submitted, but it does not substantiate that Gevorg Simonian could possibly be connected to the crime he is accused of," the lawyer declared.

Yerevan Deputy Mayor Gevorg Simonian and 10 others were arrested as part of a criminal case concerning embezzlement from the state. The charges against Simonian pertain to the period from 2020 to 2022 when he was Deputy Minister of Health and oversaw state funding for COVID-19 cases. By court decision, Simonian has been arrested for two months.