Judge Meri Mosinyan of the Anti-Corruption Court ruled on September 16 to lift the travel ban previously imposed on Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan and to replace it with bail set at 5 million drams, Factor.am reports.
Ghukasyan is on trial over allegations of illegally allocating land during his tenure as mayor of Gyumri from 1999 to 2012.
Speaking to reporters outside the courthouse, Ghukasyan expressed dismay at the large number of criminal cases being initiated in the country and called the trials biased, Sputnik Armenia reports.
“There is no country in the world that burdens its people this much,” Ghukasyan said. “Ninety-nine percent of former mayors are on trial, healthy political forces are under attack, and anyone who gains public support is inevitably targeted by the state.”
He claimed that he is being prosecuted for allocating land plots for housing and service construction. “A mayor who experienced the earthquake, in a city that went through an earthquake, if he doesn’t act like this, he should be kicked out. The city’s development plan has been inconsistent; it was only regulated in 2023. If I allowed people to build homes in a city that was 90% in ruins, then I’m guilty,” he said.
Ghukasyan also believes the criminal case against his son, Spartak Ghukasyan, is politically motivated.
“When he went to testify before the archbishop [Shirak Diocese head Archbishop Mikael], I warned him: you’ll be arrested. A year later, they’ve remembered the street gravel, which isn’t even registered as property or of any value. It’s laughable,” he added.
“My son got into trouble because of his father,” he said. “His father won’t cooperate with the state and protects national interests.”
Ghukasyan also claimed that the state creates unrest among youth when it sees the city is calm, and vowed that he would always win if he runs for mayor again. “As many times as I run, I’ll win,” he said.
On September 12, Spartak Ghukasyan, the mayor’s son, was placed under two-month house arrest on extortion charges based on a report from a municipal utilities employee. The latter claimed that under Spartak Ghukasyan’s instructions, a soil and concrete mixture from dismantled pavement was transported elsewhere.
