On April 26, 2022, the Prosecutor General's Office received a petition from a group of parents of the dead servicemen to recognize them as victims in a criminal case in connection with the war unleashed by Azerbaijan in 2020, which was approved.

 

On November 21, 2020, the Special Investigative Service initiated a criminal case under Part 2 of Article 308 of the Criminal Code of the RA based on the statements of the former head of the Military Supervision Service of the Armenian Defense Ministry Movses Hakobyan, later the criminal case initiated on the basis of Ara Zohrabyan's report was attached to it. The subject of the investigation is the possible actions of high-ranking officials of Armenia, which could have a negative impact on the combat capability of the Armed Forces and affect the outcome of the war. Considering that, in accordance with the received application for granting the status of a participant in legal proceedings, the persons indicated in the attached list died during the war in Artsakh, the supervising prosecutor gave a written instruction to the preliminary investigation body - the Anti-Corruption Committee to recognize the dead as victims, and their parents and relatives as legal successors.

 

In addition, on April 26, the Prosecutor General's Office received a separate request to bring Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to criminal liability under part 1 of article 299, part 2 of article 308 and part 3 of Art. 309 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, as part of the case under investigation by the Anti-Corruption Committee on the circumstances of the reasons that led to the catastrophic consequences of the Artsakh war.

 

The supervising prosecutor referred this request to the investigator in the above case for consideration in accordance with the procedure established by Articles 102 and 199 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia.

 

The Prosecutor's Office uses all means to guarantee the full implementation of the procedural rights of all participants in the trial in criminal cases related to the catastrophic war of 2020, including the implementation of all the rights of victims and victims' successors, within the framework of which the Prosecutor General’s office is always open for effective communication.

 

At the same time, we remind you that the consideration of criminal cases, prosecutorial supervision of their legality, procedural decisions made within this framework are carried out exclusively in the manner prescribed by law and cannot depend on public processes.

 

Public appeals outside the legal field, due to any factor, to influence the course of the investigation are unacceptable. They do not follow the constitutional foundations of the rule of law and the interests of criminal justice.