Anti-Corruption Committee Discovers Bribery Case Involving Exemption of Conscripts from Mandatory Military Service

The Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia has uncovered a case involving the bribery of a member of the Central Medical Commission in exchange for exempting a conscript from mandatory military service. This revelation came as a result of extensive evidence-gathering and procedural actions conducted by the Committee's operational-investigative department, leading to the initiation of criminal proceedings.

Particularly, it's been established that H. Sh., a member of the Central Medical Commission formed for the winter conscription of 2023, entered into a corrupt agreement through the mediation of M. M., the head of a surgical clinic in one of Yerevan's hospitals. H. Sh. arranged to receive a bribe of $6,000-6,500 to resolve the military service exemption issue for a conscript identified as G. M., who underwent an examination at the ophthalmology clinic.

In November 2023, according to their agreement, G. M. and a close person transferred $6,000 in bribe money to M. M. From this amount, M. M. handed over $4,000 to H. Sh., keeping the remainder for personal use. Consequently, on November 15, 2023, H. Sh., who received the bribe, participated as an ophthalmologist in the examination of the conscript, ultimately declaring G. M. unfit for service and granting him exemption from mandatory military duty.

Moreover, the preliminary investigation revealed that from October 2023 to January 2024, M. M. received various amounts of money under the pretext of mediating bribes in order to facilitate the exemption of three other conscripts from military service. It was found that M. M., having no actual intent to approach any public official regarding these conscripts’ military service exemptions, collected a total of $4,000 and 1,100,000 AMD from relatives of the conscripts under the guise of bribery.

As a result of the actions of the relevant medical commission of the Territorial Division of the Armenian Ministry of Defense's Conscription and Recruitment Service, the mentioned conscripts were exempted from mandatory military service during the winter conscription of 2023. The accused H. Sh. faces charges under Article 435, Part 2, Clause 2 of the Armenian Criminal Code, while M. M. is charged under Article 437, Part 1, and Article 440, Part 2 (three episodes). G. M. is charged under Article 436, Part 2, Clauses 1 and 2 of the Armenian Criminal Code. A pre-trial restriction in the form of detention has been applied to H. Sh. The preliminary investigation has concluded, and the case materials have been forwarded to the court for substantive examination.