Ex-general’s arrest hearing delayed

YEREVAN, JANUARY 11, ARMENPRESS. A court hearing over the prosecution’s request to arrest former MP Manvel Grigoryan again has been delayed, the ex-general’s attorney Arsen Mkrtchyan told reporters.

He said the hearing has been delayed due to technical reasons. “There is a need of providing certain documents,” he said.

Grigoryan himself was not in attendance of the hearing due to his health condition, the attorney said.

Grigoryan, a former Member of Parliament, was stripped of immunity by parliament in June 2018 and placed under arrest in suspicion of illegal possession of firearms and grand theft.

At the time of his arrest Grigoryan also served as president of the Yerkrapah Union of Volunteers, but was later ousted by the board of the organization amid highly scandalous accusations.

Law enforcement agencies found a private zoo, a car collection, huge amounts of weapons and ammunition, as well as allegedly embezzled military supplies and donations in his compound. Grigoryan, however, denies any wrongdoing.

He was released from custody on a 25,000,000 dram bail on December 21, 2018. His release sparked outrage in his hometown of Etchmiatsin.

Edited and translated by Stepan Kocharyan