On August 13, under the presidency of Judge Lili Drmeyan, the Anti-Corruption Civil Court convened a hearing on the claim for confiscation of allegedly illicit property belonging to former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan (currently wanted), his ex-wife Lilit Kostanyan, Gevorg Kostanyan’s classmate Arman Galstyan, the latter’s wife Tereza Gevorgyan, and the former Prosecutor General’s nephew Ara Kostanyan.
Nelli Ter-Torosyan, prosecutor of the Department for Confiscation of Illicit Property at the Prosecutor General’s Office, informed Iravaban.net that they are partially withdrawing the claim. This pertains to real estate in Tsaghkadzor with a market value of 129,995,000 drams.
“Taking into account the facts recorded by the Department for Confiscation of Illicit Property at the Prosecutor General’s Office, and in accordance with Article 149 of the RA Civil Procedure Code, we withdraw the claim for confiscation of the aforementioned real estate apartment from Ara Karen Kostanyan, while maintaining the claim to confiscate the property’s average market value of 129,995,000 drams from Gevorg Surik Kostanyan,” she stated.
Judge Lili Drmeyan clarified that the proceedings regarding the withdrawn claim will be terminated in the final judicial act: “In other words, a separate proceeding is not initiated for this claim. The court will address this claim in the final judicial act.”
Advocate Varazdat Asatryan pointed out that in this case, a motion should be submitted to lift the arrests applied to the property: “If possible, let’s prioritize discussing this motion. Given the withdrawal of the claim, the arrest applied to the specified property is no longer justifiable. Therefore, I request that they be lifted.”
The judge noted that the property belongs to Ara Kostanyan by right of ownership.
The prosecution did not object to the motion presented by Advocate Varazdat Asatryan.
Prosecutor Nelli Ter-Torosyan informed the court that the economist responsible for calculations had not appeared in court for a valid reason and requested the respondent side to refrain from asking questions about that aspect, limiting their inquiries to legal matters only.
“Legal questions have been raised numerous times in previous court sessions. We are also weary of these legal inquiries. The answers are neither satisfactory nor comprehensible to us. Let the specialist attend, as the questions fall within the domain of their expertise,” stated Advocate Varazdat Asatryan.
The case hearing was subsequently postponed.
Further details are available in the accompanying video.
Hasmik Sargsyan
