YEREVAN/Feb. 25 2020 (The Bulletin) – A court in Yerevan started hearing the corruption trial of Serzh Sargsyan, Armenia’s president for 10 years and, until he was overthrown in a revolution in April 2018, the most powerful man in the country.

 Wearing his trademark dark suit and dark shirt, but no tie, Mr Sargsyan, 65, walked into the court to face charges of stealing 489m drams ($1m) during a government scheme in 2013 to subsidise diesel fuel. He has denied the charges and said that they are politically motivated. 

Outside the court, he had briefly addressed his supporters through a loudspeaker.

“There are still judges in Armenia for whom justice is above everything,” he said. 

He then referenced Nagorno-Karabakh, the mountainous region wedged between Azerbaijan and Armenia that is disputed between the two neighbours. A war that lasted until 1994 killed thousands of people and handed an Armenia-backed militia control of the region. 

Mr Sarsgyan, a native of Nagorno-Karabakh and a veteran of the war, referenced the dispute to undermine the credibility of Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s PM. Mr Pashinyan has been accused of being soft on the issue and for coming up second in a rare debate on Nagorno-Karabakh at the Munich Security Conference in February.

A row between the two men has become increasingly personal and Mr Sargsyan has said that he is being prosecuted out of personal spite from Mr Pashinyan.

Since Mr Pashinyan became PM after a revolution in 2018, overthrowing Mr Sargsyan, several senior members of former governments have gone on trial for corruption. This has included Mr Sargsyan’s predecessor as president Robert Kocharyan, and several members of his government. It was thought that Mr Sargsyan would escape charges because he had resigned, opting not to use the army to confront protesters. This appeared to change at the end of last year after he spoke out against the government.

Mr Pashinyan has countered by saying that he is honour-bound to carry through the principles of the revolution which means persecuting those suspected of corruption.

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— This story was first published in issue 438 of the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin

— Copyright the Central Asia & South Caucasus Bulletin 2020

DEC. 27 2019 (The Bulletin) — Armenia’s Prosecutor-General charged Hrayr Tovmasyan, head of the country’s Constitutional Court, with abuse of office for selling off for his own profit a state-owned building in Yerevan in 2012 when he was justice minister. Mr Tovmasyan said the charges are politically motivated and are part of attacks on prominent members of the former government.

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— This story was first published in issue 433 of the weekly Bulletin on Jan. 13 2020

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