The first hearing in the murder case of Sergey Grigoryan, known by the nickname ‘Faz’, took place today, November 27, at the ‘Avan’ residence of Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Masis Melkonyan. Two individuals have defendant status in the case: Rustam Stepanyan (Fat Rustam) and Ashot Kuregyan.
According to the indictment, Stepanyan, with the prior agreement of a group of people including A. Kuregyan, H. Sahakyan, and Su. Grigoryan, illegally acquired and possessed firearms and ammunition with the purpose of unlawfully taking Sergey Grigoryan’s life. Then, together with A. Kuregyan, they organized and directed the actions of other accomplices, who directly participated in killing S. Grigoryan on June 11, 2024, around 23:15, in a manner dangerous to the lives of others.
The investigation revealed that hostile relations had formed between R. Stepanyan, known as ‘Fat Rustam’, and S. Grigoryan, known as ‘Faz’, since 2018 over a personal matter. The situation intensified in December 2020, caused by sexual insults posted as comments from the Instagram page of R. Stepanyan’s close associate about S. Grigoryan and his close female friend.
According to Iravaban.net, the defendants’ detention period expires on November 28, and the extension of this period was discussed first. The public prosecutor noted that detention is the preventive measure that can ensure proper behavior of the defendants, with no guarantee that after being released they won’t hide from the investigating body, commit new crimes, or obstruct criminal proceedings.
“I would like to remind that two other persons who had direct participation in the murder are still wanted, and in this context too, I maintain my position,” stated the prosecutor and motioned to extend the detention.
The defense objected to the prosecutor’s motion and reasoning. Rustam Stepanyan’s defender Gegham Hakobyan stated that a court of first instance’s ruling in force has confirmed the absence of two grounds mentioned by the prosecutor: flight risk and committing new crimes. He insists that his client had no connection to the crime.
“Two circumstances are attributed to him: acquiring weapons and organizing. They sent the case to court with illegal charges and say ‘prove your innocence.’ They say ‘you, Rustam Stepanyan, because you had previous issues with the victim, and people allegedly connected to the murder had connections with you, therefore you organized everything.’ There is no other evidence, just these two circumstances: he had issues with the murdered person, and these persons had connections with him,” noted Hakobyan.
Rustam Stepanyan also made a statement in court. He noted that he has reviewed the case materials and, though not a lawyer, will explain how he understands everything: “From my house, we went somewhere with Suren Grigoryan, it’s written ‘somewhere.’ I say, respected investigator, we didn’t just go ‘somewhere,’ I’m saying specifically where we went. I went without Suren Grigoryan. We went with 3-4 people, then I received a call from Grigoryan, he asked me to come, said let’s meet, have coffee, whatever. We go to that nearby place, we were about 3-4 people that day. We sit down, food, water… stay to spend some time, then go to a birthday party. We sit for about 2 hours, get up, go to the birthday party,” the defendant was explaining when the presiding judge interrupted him. Masis Melkonyan stated that there is a procedural phase for such detailed stories, and now Stepanyan should simply state whether he agrees with his defender’s position and if he has anything additional to add.
“I just want to understand where this ‘somewhere’ is. The occasion was at ‘Parvana’ restaurant. There was someone who left home around 12, called a taxi, and left. Some time passes, rumors spread throughout the city that Rustam came home, and the shooter also went home. There are cameras showing how that person calls a taxi, gets in, and leaves. I say, man, who called a taxi, what kind of talk is this? I think these are just talks, anyone can talk, and it’s the result of these talks that I’m here today. We check who left from our place at night, who called a taxi. They say it was this person, just standing 30-40 meters away. The camera records how that person left the yard, got in a taxi, and left. The security camera recorded it. I have a lot to say, but briefly for now. We have no connection to this case, we’ve proven it and it’s proven. There can’t be any evidence, if there is, then I’m lying,” Stepanyan explains.
Suren Grigoryan hasn’t been found; according to the preliminary investigation body, the person went via the “North-South” road: “They went to Proshyan. I swear, I know 5 people from Proshyan, those people know 50 people.”
The defendant insists that he hasn’t seen Suren Grigoryan after 12:30 at night, and the investigators didn’t do their job well. They didn’t ask Rustam Stepanyan what connection he has to this case: “I would have said look at these numbers, look at these transcripts, Suren is also my godfather-godson. Those godfather-godsons are century-old enemies with that deceased person.”
The presiding judge interrupted him again, saying it’s very good that they’re presenting this, but it should be done at the appropriate phase.
Rustam Stepanyan also made a statement in court. He mentioned that he has reviewed the case materials and, although not a lawyer, will explain how he understands everything: “From my house, we went somewhere with Suren Grigoryan, it’s written ‘somewhere.’ I say, respected investigator, we didn’t go ‘somewhere,’ I say specifically where we went. I went without Suren Grigoryan. We went 3-4 people, then I received a call from Grigoryan, he asked me to come, said let’s meet, have coffee, etc. We go to that nearby facility, we were about 3-4 people that day. We sit down, food, water… stay to spend some time, then go to a birthday party. We sit for about 2 hours, get up, go to the birthday party,” the defendant was explaining when the presiding judge interrupted him.
Masis Melkonyan stated that there is a procedural phase for such detailed stories, and now Stepanyan should simply state whether he agrees with his defender’s position and if he has anything additional to add.
“I just want to understand where this ‘somewhere’ is. The occasion was at ‘Parvana’ restaurant. There was someone who left home around 12, called a taxi, and left. Some time passes, rumors spread throughout the city that Rustam came home, and the shooter also went home. There are cameras showing how that person calls a taxi, gets in, and leaves. I say, man, who called a taxi, what kind of talk is this? I think these are just talks, anyone can talk, and it’s the result of these talks that I’m here today. We check who left from our place at night, who called a taxi. They say it was this person, just standing 30-40 meters away. The camera records how that person left the yard, got in a taxi, and left. The security camera recorded it. I have a lot to say, but briefly for now. We have no connection to this case, we’ve proven it and it’s proven. There can’t be any evidence, if there is, then I’m lying,” Stepanyan explains.
Suren Grigoryan hasn’t been found; according to the preliminary investigation body, the person went via the “North-South” road: “They went to Proshyan. I swear, I know 5 people from Proshyan, those people know 50 people.”
The defendant insists that he hasn’t seen Suren Grigoryan after 12:30 at night, and the investigators didn’t do their job well. They didn’t ask Rustam Stepanyan what connection he has to this case: “I would have said look at these numbers, look at these transcripts, Suren is also my godfather-godson. Those godfather-godsons are century-old enemies with that deceased person.”
The presiding judge interrupted him again, saying it’s very good that they’re presenting this, but it should be done at the appropriate phase.
Rustam Stepanyan asked the court to change the preventive measure and apply signature bond not to leave: “I have 3 underage children, my parents are in poor health, please let me go home. Two months have passed since that incident, they kidnapped me, didn’t arrest me. They kidnapped me, that’s all.”
The second defendant, Ashot Kyureghyan, also stated that he has no connection to all this and assured that if released from detention, he won’t commit any “violations.”
Masis Melkonyan decided to extend the defendants’ detention on three counts, also taking into account the data in the case.
The judge also announced that the court has received comments from the victims’ representatives, stating that they won’t file property claims against any of the defendants. Then the court addressed the issue of determining the volume of evidence to be examined.
The hearing was postponed.
