On September 3, a court hearing was held in the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal on the case of former Chairman of the Urban Development Committee, Vahagn Vermishyan, presided over by Judge Karen Amiryan and with the participation of Judges Armen Hovhannisyan and Mesrop Makyan.

According to Iravaban.net, prosecutor Tsovak Mnatsakanyan presented the appeal at this court session. The appeal was written by prosecutor David Aghajanyan, who was involved in this case during the trial.

According to the presented appeal, the verdict of the court of first instance is subject to review, as the punishment imposed on defendants Vahagn Vermishyan and Vazgen Poghosyan is not fair. The court, by imposing an appropriate punishment on the defendants, made a judicial error, a violation of substantive law, which distorted the judicial act.

The articles cited in the appeal and a number of precedent decisions of the Court of Cassation emphasize that when imposing punishment on the defendants, the court did not take into account the nature of their actions and the degree of public danger, the prevalence of the crime, and the damage caused to the state apparatus as a result.

When imposing imprisonment on the defendants, the danger of the crime was not properly analyzed, and the consequences of the actions attributed to them were not evaluated.

The prosecutor also notes that in committing a crime of high public danger, one should notice his key role, as all episodes relate to Vahagn Vermishyan and his functions, and that is how he contributed to the adoption of these decisions.

The appeal cited decisions of the European Court and the Court of Cassation, and according to the arguments presented by the prosecutor, the court did not reveal the special characteristics of public danger of the actions.

“Even with the presence of evidence revealed as a result of operational-investigative actions, the defendants do not admit to committing the crimes attributed to them, they have not repented for the crimes committed, which should be essential in determining the type and extent of punishment,” said Mnatsakanyan.

According to the presented appeal, the prosecutor’s office requests to overturn and partially change the verdict of the Criminal Court of First Instance of May 15, 2023, regarding Vahagn Vermishyan and Vazgen Poghosyan. For defendant Vazgen Poghosyan, impose imprisonment for 3 years, and for defendant Vahagn Vermishyan, under Article 308, Part 1 of the RA Criminal Code adopted on April 18, 2003, impose imprisonment for 2 years, under Article 310 of the same code impose imprisonment for 5 years, under Article 311, Part 3, Point 3 impose imprisonment for 6 years, under Article 311, Part 3, Point 3 impose imprisonment for 6 years, under Article 178, Part 2, Points 2 impose imprisonment for 3 years, under Article 435, Part 2, Point 2 impose imprisonment for 7 years.

In total, the prosecutor demanded a final punishment of 15 years imprisonment for defendant Vahagn Vermishyan and also deprivation of the right to hold positions in local self-government bodies for 5 years.

In addition, the defendant was required to confiscate 4 million 525 thousand 525 drams obtained as a result of crimes in favor of the state under Article 121 of the RA Criminal Code.

The court raised questions about the presented articles and the proposed punishment resulting from their sum. The prosecutor noted that since he did not participate in the trials and the appeal was not written by him, the relevant arguments regarding the episodes will be presented at the next court session.

The prosecutor also stated that he is going to present a written document with answers to these questions, as well as present positions and counterarguments on the complaints voiced by the defense.

At this session, Vahagn Vermishyan’s defender Alexander Kochubayev continued to present the last part of the appeal.

One of the actions attributed to Vahagn Vermishyan relates to allegedly taking a bribe at the Ramada Hotel. The episode also relates to Vermishyan’s friend, John Farkhoyan, who is one of the defendants in the case. Farkhoyan is accused of bribing an official, contributing to an official performing or not performing any action using their official position for his benefit, for patronage in service. Here we are talking about 2000 US dollars. Completely refuting the preliminary investigation body’s justifications for this episode, the defense presents a different reality.

The defender noted that the other episode relates to receiving a bribe, with concrete and European windows being the bribe.

In particular, Vahagn Vermishyan, wanting to receive free concrete and European windows, promised that he would provide services for another person, provide assistance.

According to him, Vahagn Vermishyan called Gagik Galstyan, said that he needed high-quality cement, after which the cement was delivered.

From their telephone conversation recordings, it becomes clear that Vermishyan says, “Gagik, I ask you to calculate it with money, tell me the number, I need good quality cement.” “This is Vahagn Vermishyan’s role, that is, if a person says I need cement, please calculate it with money, tell me the number, did Vahagn Vermishyan expect here that it should be transferred to him for free or did Vahagn Vermishyan expect to receive some advantage in return for this?”

In the last episode, according to the prosecutor’s accusation, Vermishyan fraudulently embezzled 2.5 million drams from Zohrap Hovhannisyan.

Alexander Kochubayev noted that Zohrap Hovhannisyan is the son of one of Vermishyan’s relatives. The latter, called Vermishyan, said that he wants to get a construction permit, a project is needed. Vermishyan said, “I can’t give a project, but I know people who can do it, only 2.5 million drams are needed for the design work.”

“Taking that 5 thousand dollars, Vahagn Vermishyan transferred 2 thousand 500 dollars to Gagik Panosyan. A few things need to be understood: before the construction permit, a person must first have the building plan, and second, must apply to the municipality to get a construction permit,” he said.

Vermishyan allocated part of the money for carrying out design work, after which he was supposed to perform the remaining actions, but he was arrested and the process was suspended.

Vahagn Vermishyan does not plead guilty to all episodes of the charges brought against him and demands acquittal.

The next court session is on September 5.

Details in the video. 

Mariam Shahnazaryan