The hearing on the extension of the pre‑trial detention of Samvel Karapetyan, founder of the Tashir group of companies, began on November 17 at 16:00.
The court has withdrawn into the deliberation room and is to publish its decision on November 18 at 11:30, his legal representatives announced.
After the hearing, Karapetyan’s defence team reported that the court went into deliberations to decide on extending his detention. Earlier, lawyer Aram Vardevanyan said that the Court of Appeal on November 13 had ruled the economic charges against Karapetyan unfounded; accordingly, he should have been released on November 17.
However, the Court of Cassation on the same day found that grounds do exist for the economic charges, and the Investigative Committee filed a motion to extend his detention on that basis.
Karapetyan has been in detention since June 18; he faces charges of publicly calling for a seizure of power and overthrow of the constitutional order.
On June 18, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, just hours before Karapetyan’s arrest, announced the time had come for nationalisation of the country’s electricity networks and that employees unwilling to cooperate with the state could be dismissed.
On June 24, Pashinyan said he was ready for the nationalisation program. On October 13, the Investigative Committee announced new charges under Article 296, Part 3, points 2 and 3 (using authority or influence associated with official powers to launder money on a particularly large scale).
Karapetyan rejects the charges.
