Court Rejects Samvel Karapetyan's Request to Hold Court Hearings Without His Participation

The Anti-Corruption Court has rejected a request by Samvel Karapetyan, the leader of the "Strong Armenia" party, to conduct court hearings in his case without his participation. The decision was made by Judge Vahe Dolmazyan, who denied the request put forward by Karapetyan's lawyer, Ruben Hakobyan.

The judge clarified that legislation does not provide such an option for defendants under house arrest. "In judicial practice, there is no case where a defendant under house arrest does not participate in hearings. Moreover, the legislation does not foresee such a possibility," the judge stated.

For his part, Samvel Karapetyan expressed that he would not oppose if the hearings were conducted without him. “I would be happy, the journalists are asking many questions,” he joked.

The court also decided to send a letter to the Probation Service regarding the issue of accompanying Karapetyan to court hearings. The defense requested that he be transported to court in a regular vehicle rather than a police car.

Additionally, the lawyers requested that Karapetyan be returned his passport for at least one day in order to formalize a notarized power of attorney necessary for transactions. The judge noted that this issue would be discussed after receiving the samples of the powers of attorney.

Samvel Karapetyan is currently under house arrest and has been subjected to bail conditions. The trial related to the criminal case against him continues.