The Anti-Corruption Court today, January 21, held a hearing on the case of asset forfeiture of illegally obtained property belonging to former Yerevan Mayor and former Minister of Communications and Transport Gagik Beglaryan, his wife Nune Nikolyan, son Hrant Beglaryan, and daughter Natella Beglaryan. The hearing was presided over by Judge Narine Avagyan.
According to Iravaban.net, the case is in the trial phase. The defendant’s new representatives, Harutyun Harutyunyan and David Vardikyan, presented to the court the powers of attorney given by Gagik Beglaryan, his wife Nune Nikolyan, son Hrant Beglaryan, and daughter Natella Beglaryan.
The defendants’ representatives fully objected to video and photo recording of the session, citing their recent involvement in the case and not having discussed this matter with the defendants.
The presiding judge announced that Margarita Ghazaryan, representative of defendants Gagik, Natella, and Hrant Beglaryan, had submitted a motion to the court informing that the previously authorized lawyers would no longer represent them as their power of attorney had been revoked, and requested a postponement of the hearing.
Attorney Harutyun Harutyunyan stated that they became involved in the case on January 17, receiving some case materials from previous representatives. However, given that these comprise around 30 volumes, they haven’t had time to fully review them, which is quite a lengthy process, therefore requesting at least a 3-month postponement.
Prosecutor Nelli Ter-Torosyan of the Department for Forfeiture of Illegally Obtained Property said: “Let’s note that this is the second instance of representatives withdrawing from this case, and the competent authority believes there is an intention to delay the case proceedings. This is a case of abuse of rights, and to prevent such manifestations, three months is too long; a reasonable timeframe should be granted. The case is extensive, and involving new representatives at the evidence examination stage pursues one goal, but in any case, without violating the new representatives’ right to familiarize themselves with case materials, I believe one month is sufficient.”
Harutyun Harutyunyan disagreed with the prosecutor, saying one month is not reasonable since after reviewing the case materials, they would also need to present their response position. He emphasized that neither in this nor other cases have they ever come to delay timeframes or to “annoy” the court and prosecutors, therefore exercising procedural rights cannot be qualified as abuse of rights.
After considering the motion, the court decided to partially satisfy it, noting that very little evidence examination has been conducted so far, while the case volumes are quite extensive. Judge Narine Avagyan said there was no basis to cancel the next scheduled hearing to maintain case efficiency, while simultaneously allowing the defendant to express their position on already examined evidence at any stage.
The judge again warned the defendant’s representatives that this is the second instance of lawyer changes, and they should avoid actions close to abuse of rights. Nevertheless, the presiding judge stated she would not impose restrictions on the exercise of the new representatives’ rights.
The next hearing in this case will take place on January 31.
The photographs were taken during other sessions.
Mariam Shahnazaryan
