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Vardges Hovakimyan not charged with murder

Politics


Senior investigator for special cases at the RA Special Investigative Service Gabriel Petrosyan today answered "A1+"'s questions regarding the charge against the former governor of Ararat province Vardges Hovakimyan and the latter's statements.

"A1+": Mr. Petrosyan, what was Ararat province's former governor charged with and why?

Gabriel Petrosyan: We have already issued a statement on that once. He was charged with three articles of the RA Criminal Code, that is, misuse of official powers, motivating official falsification and official ineptness, which led to heavy consequences. For these acts, the punishment is based on Part 1, Article 308, Part 1, Article 38-314 and Part 2, Article 315 of the RA Criminal Code.

"A1+": In his interviews, Vardges Hovakimyan had mentioned that he was also charged for causing the death of a person due to this ineptness. Who was he referring to? He even mentioned Gevorg Mheryan's name.

G. P.: It is strange, to say the least, that they are trying to speculate Part 2, Article 315 of the RA Criminal Code since he was also given the copy of the decision on the charge in which there is a full answer to your question. In this case, we are dealing with a wrong reproduction of the criminal code. It is simply necessary to read completely and reproduce without any reductions. Part 2, Article 315 of the RA Criminal Code envisages punishment when a person has caused somebody's death or heavy consequences by not fulfilling his obligations due to carelessness. In this case, according to the preliminary inquiry body, there has been damage worth over 30 million drams to the government's legal interests because of Hovakimyan's official ineptness. I clarify that the first part of the same article envisages punishment for official ineptness that caused essential damage.

"A1+": Is there evidence of the crime?

G. P.: Yes, in this case, according to the evidence obtained during a preliminary inquiry, the damage caused to the state exceeds the 30 million dram mark. It is not essential damage, but has been evaluated as a heavy consequence. With that said, he has also been charged with Part 2, Article 315 of the RA Criminal Code.