Person accused of kidnapping Armenian PM's son found guilty Court applied probation

The court of first instance, chaired by Manvel Shahverdyan, sentenced the mother of the murdered Armenian soldier Gayane Hakobyan (according to her passport - Azgush Martirosyan), accused of kidnapping the son of Armenian Prime Minister Ashot Pashinyan, to four years in prison.

The court ruled to impose a conditional sentence, and a probationary period of one year was appointed, Caliber.Az, reports, citing the Armenian media.

On June 9, Hakobyan (Martirosyan) refused the services of her lawyers Georgi Melikyan, Hovsep Sargsyan and Varduhi Elbakyan. Lawyers reported disagreements with her and made it clear that Hakobyan decided to plead guilty. They said that they could manage to submit a petition to change the preventive measure.

According to the court decision, Hakobyan cannot leave the country without the permission of the judicial authority. When changing her place of residence in Armenia, she must inform the probation service.

The mother of the murdered soldier was released in the courthouse.

In turn, the Prime Minister's son Ashot Pashinyan told reporters that this decision satisfies him. According to him, the purpose of justice is not to punish a person, but to prevent and reduce the number of crimes.

“If the judiciary has made such a decision, then I cannot be against it,” he said.

Pashinyan Jr. said he would not appeal the court's decision.

During his conversation with the journalists, Pashinyan said that he does not intend to retract his statement against the parents of the deceased servicemen.

There are two criminal cases on the kidnapping of Pashinyan Jr. One was undertaken by Gayane Hakobyan (Martirosyan), who was given a 4-year suspended sentence with a one-year probation period. The second case is in the Investigative Committee.

Asked whether he would appeal to law enforcement authorities about the hit-and-run committed by the Toyota car driver (Garik Galeyan - father of murdered soldier Mkhitar Galeyan), Pashinyan Jr. said he had already done so.

"This production is separate from the big case. I continue to affirm what I said before and will not embellish or downplay anything," he said.

Pashinyan Jr. added that the case of his kidnapping is ongoing.

Earlier, information about the separation of a part of the criminal proceedings was confirmed to the media by Armenian law enforcement agencies. According to media reports, the fathers of deceased soldiers Mkhitar Galeyan - Garik Galeyan and Zhora Sahakyan - Vahid Sahakyan are under investigation.

On May 17, "Haykakan Zhamanak" newspaper, owned by the prime minister's family, earlier reported about the attempt to kidnap Ashot Pashinyan, accusing members of the "Call of Sons" organisation, which unites parents of servicemen killed in Karabakh.

The newspaper claimed that the members of the organisation made Pashinyan Junior get into their car, but he managed to jump out and was hit by another car. The victim was injured and applied to the law enforcement bodies.