On 3 November, the Anti-Corruption Court held the hearing in the case of confiscation of property of alleged illegal origin of the former chairman of the Urban Development Committee, the former chief architect of Stepanavan City Vahagn Vermishyan,.

According to Iravaban.net, at the beginning of the session, the representative of the respondent, Armen Melkumyan, petitioned the court to postpone the session. The representatives saw their client for the second time, the first time was also in the meeting hall.

The lawyers were not allowed to visit Vahagn Vermishyan at the penitentiary because they did not have the permission of judge Sergey Marabyan, who is presiding over the criminal case, to meet their client. According to Melkumyan, they appealed to the staff of the judge, but the latter was on vacation and they received his permission only the day before, on 2 November. “In order to express a final position, we need to meet with our client, visit him, get certain information, adjust, and then express the position. Physically, we did not have the opportunity to meet each other.”

In addition, the lawyers did not manage to obtain documents certifying the legality of the property from other countries.

In his turn, Vahagn Vermishyan mentioned that he had a lot of time to think about the case and came to a conclusion. Examining such cases regarding persons who have worked abroad, earned money and want to invest that money in Armenia creates a serious security problem for Armenia. According to him, the Armenian diaspora has great potential, which is also evidenced by the achievements. According to Vahagn Vermishyan, it is necessary to create conditions for diaspora money to flow to the homeland.

“That law, on the basis of which the honorable prosecutor’s office initiates a case without making any effort, is, in my opinion, against the interests of the Republic of Armenia. That is the dream of the Turks. Turks have always been afraid of 2 things: from the potential of the Armenian Diaspora, which was represented by the Hayastan All Armenian Fund, and from the conditions that RA could create to attract the potential of the Diaspora. Today, the All-Armenian Fund has been destroyed,” Vermishyan, whose speech was interrupted by the judge, said.

Karapet Badalyan urged the defendant not to talk about political issues in court, to speak in essence. “The issue of continuing or not continuing the court session is being discussed.”

Vermishyan urged the judge not to be upset, because he says “right things”. He continued: “Such cases are aimed at undermining the foundations of the RA and I believe that this case should be closed: the sooner the better. Otherwise, all the persons involved in this case will receive appropriate punishment after some time.”

Naira Artashesyan, the prosecutor of the Department for Confiscation of Property of Illicit Origin of the Prosecutor General’s Office, stated in court that she is against postponing the session. Referring to the postponement of the session based on the collection of documents, the presiding judge noted that it is still too early to talk about them. “The court has not yet decided what facts are subject to proof, who should bear the burden of proof of those facts, so that it is clear what evidence they are, whether they are relevant to the case or not. Is it necessary to spend time to acquire them or not?”

Referring to the fact that Vahagn Vermishyan was detained, the judge noted that the lawyers received their power of attorney on 25 September, after which they applied to the Criminal Court of Appeals to meet with their client on 11 October only. “You had enough time to perform these actions. I think your petition is groundless.”

The motion was denied. The judge offered to ask the plaintiff questions about the basis and subject of the claim, but the lawyers stated that considering the circumstances mentioned in the motion, they cannot ask the prosecutor questions at this time.

Vahagn Vermishyan again declared in court that the process is absurd.

“I do not know why the prosecutor ordered to initiate this case. Perhaps Mrs. Vardapetyan has a personal problem with me. Pass my greetings to her,” Vermishyan said, addressing the prosecutor.

Naira Artashesyan asked not to make statements defaming the reputation of the Prosecutor’s Office. Vermishyan countered, stating that he only asked “to say hello to Mrs. Vardapetyan”. “If you would have understood the context, you would not have started this case at all. It’s a shame”.

Addressing Vahagn Veimishyan, Judge Karapet Badalyan noted that the latter makes statements that are outside the scope of the case. “I warn you that such expressions are not allowed.”

 

– I consider it inadmissible to initiate such a case.

– Do not try to argue with the court.

– Not with the court, I am telling the prosecutor.

The defendant’s representatives claimed that the claim was completely groundless. “In order to address separately all the bases in the claim, we currently do not have the information base that would allow us to object to the argument mentioned in the claim and present our position.”

Karapet Badalyan reminded that the lawyer involved in the case, Alexander Kochubaev, submitted a written response to the lawsuit in June. Armen Melkumyan mentioned that they accept and insist on the answer. Then the judge allowed Vermishyan to state his position on the claim.

– Do I have time? How much time do you give?

“I give you as much time as you need to speak,” the judgeresponded .

Vermishyan mentioned that there are thousands of people like him who worked abroad, sold their property and moved to Armenia.

“In 1991, I moved to Moscow and did not carry out any activities in Armenia. I worked in various institutions, built and designed buildings. I worked in Sudan. If documents are needed, it is difficult for us to find Sudanese Omar Hassan al-Bashir (President of Sudan-ed.), because there was a revolution, now there is another person in his place. I received a letter of thanks from that person, I designed a city for 7 million people on the coast of the Red Sea. I worked in Dubai. I designed several hotel complexes there. Now it seems impossible to find those investors, to find out how I got the money, in what form. Sometimes I received it in the form of pearls, sometimes in the form of diamonds, and sometimes in different amounts. All that is very difficult to restore now. I have to go there, pick up those papers. If they have a little bit of honor, they will shorten this case just tomorrow.” After Vahagn Vermishyan’s this sentence, the judge reprimanded him again.

– Can’t you do without those expressions?

– Well, shame, let me say it in English. Shame, what can I say?

– You are in court, a court case is being examined here.

– It is my case, isn’t it? I express my opinion. I am not insulting anyone.

– Keep the moral evaluations to yourself.

– Why are you offended? I can conclude from your being offended that you have already made a decision. Which side are you from? This (respondent’s), that (plaintiff’s), or that (God’s), showing directions with his hands and turning to the judge, Vermishyan was interested.

– The court administers justice.

Representative of Ardshinbank the 3rd person in the case presented a position to the court. It referred to the apartment on Aygestan Street, which is mortgaged in the bank. The representative of the bank stated that in case the prosecution’s claim is satisfied, the property rights of the bank should be preserved. The representatives of the respondents asked for time to familiarize themselves with the position. 15 minutes later, Armen Melkumyan interceded for Vahagn Vermishyan’s son-in-law, Araz Baghdasaryan, who is a borrower of the mentioned property, to be involved in the case as a third party.

The judge announced that the decision on involving a third party will be published in the form of a separate court act, the session was postponed.

Yevgenya Hambardzumyan