Ex-president Serzh Sargsyan faces new criminal charges

Prosecutors have filed multiple criminal charges against former President Serzh Sargsyan in a case pertaining to the alleged unlawful sale of land plots near the Yerablur military cemetery.

The Prosecutor-General’s Office told the Public Television that Sargsyan faces multiple counts of money laundering and grand theft charges in the case related to the "unlawful alienation of the plots of lands adjacent to Isakov Avenue and Yerablur Military Pantheon."

Charges include 18 counts of grand theft, 2 counts of abuse of power and money laundering and 3 counts of accessory to money laundering.  

Prosecutors have banned Sargsyan from leaving the country pending the criminal proceedings. 

The former president was previously charged with embezzlement: in 2020 prosecutors indicted him with embezzlement in a case concerning alleged grand theft of 500 million drams in public funds but he was subsequently acquitted in 2024.