If within 48 hours former prosecutor Kevork Kostanyan does not appear before the preliminary investigation body, then the Special Investigation Service will carry out the actions reserved to it by law, SIS head Sasun Khachatryan told reporters during a briefing.
It had become known that the SIS, which is investigating the March 2008 events that claimed the lives of 10 people, had decided to charge former Prosecutor General Kostanyan, who has been living and working in Moscow for two months now.
In a telephone conversation with Azatutyun, Kostanyan said that he had informed the investigator in time that he works in Moscow, is conducting a course, and would return after completing it. Kostanyan also said that the “urgency” shown by the SIS “was predictable for him,” without however stating why, in that case, he was not taking steps to ensure he was not far from Armenia: “And at least after the semester ends, did I not myself express readiness that I will appear? And this urgency was predictable for me, but it was neither reasonable nor normal from a legal standpoint. Within 48 hours it is objectively impossible to appear.”
Is it possible to get from Moscow to Yerevan within 48 hours? To this question from journalists, Sasun Khachatryan retorted: “I am asking you that same question — do you consider it realistic to come from Moscow to Yerevan within 48 hours?”
The SIS has not yet detailed under which articles it has charged Kostanyan and what preventive measure it will choose. However, in the notice concerning the charge brought against another former high-ranking official in the March 1 case, former police chief Alik Sargsyan, the name of Kevork Kostanyan was also touched upon.
Accordingly, in 2008, as the representative of the Armenian government before the European Court of Human Rights, Kevork Kostanyan abused his official powers and aimed to conceal the illegal actions carried out by the police during the events of March 1 and 2, 2008 in Yerevan, and the use of Armenia’s armed forces.
According to the SIS, Kostanyan and Gevorg Mheryan, then assistant to the president and, from July 2, 2008, deputy chief of police, through their assignments and instructions prompted officials to abuse their official powers and to falsify evidence.
Former police chief Alik Sargsyan was also involved in the chain. He is a defendant in the March 1 case and has signed a pledge not to leave the country.
