YEREVAN, JANUARY 22, ARMENPRESS. The Court of Appeals has issued a new arrest warrant for former lawmaker, retired general Manvel Grigoryan, the prosecution said.

The court has accepted the Prosecutor General’s complaint against an earlier decision of a lower court to free Grigoryan on bail.

Vahagn Muradyan , head of the department of special cases at the General Prosecution, told ARMENPRESS that the general will be arrested today.

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