Former Armenian military officials accused of negligence

PanARMENIAN.Net - The former Chief of the General Staff of the Armenian Armed Forces, Colonel-General Movses Hakobyan, and the former Head of the Missile Forces and Artillery Department, Major-General Armen Harutyunyan, have been charged with official negligence, as reported by Pastinfo.

The preliminary investigation has concluded, and the case has recently been transferred to the Yerevan General Jurisdiction Criminal Court, assigned to Judge Masis Melkonyan.

According to the indictment, Armen Samson Harutyunyan, who served as the Head of the Missile Forces and Artillery Department from May 2017, violated provisions of the law "On Approving the Internal Service Charter of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Armenia." His careless and negligent attitude towards his official duties resulted in severe consequences.

Movses Hakobyan faces similar charges. The criminal case states that between 2015 and 2016, while serving as Deputy Minister of Defense and Head of the Logistics Department, he failed to properly fulfill his duties due to negligence, leading to significant property damage.

Both Harutyunyan and Hakobyan have been subjected to travel bans as preventive measures. Additionally, Hakobyan has been required to post bail of 10 million drams. According to information available on "Datalex," a claim for compensation for the damages caused has been filed within this case.

Earlier, it was reported that legal proceedings are underway in the Prosecutor General's Office, demanding approximately 4.5 billion drams from Movses Hakobyan and Armen Harutyunyan as compensation for damages caused to the state. The lawsuit was filed in the Anti-Corruption Civil Court on March 17, 2025, and assigned to Judge Lili Drmeyan on the same day.

The Prosecutor General's Office confirmed that on March 14, 2025, the Military Prosecutor's Office filed a lawsuit in the Anti-Corruption Court against Movses Hakobyan and Armen Harutyunyan, jointly seeking the recovery of 4,370,985,000 drams in favor of the Republic of Armenia for damages caused by unlawful conduct. Details of the criminal case have not been disclosed due to the secrecy of the preliminary investigation, while Movses Hakobyan responded that he has no information and learned about the lawsuit from the media.