The judge involved in the corrupt scheme has released Armenia’s third president, Serzh Sargsyan, Barsam Sargsyan, and others from criminal responsibility. This decision was based on grounds that the term of imprisonment had exceeded the statute of limitations. The judge stated that there was no evidence to substantiate the indictment against the defendants involved in the corrupt scheme for more than 10 years. Therefore, it was necessary to declare that the statute of limitations for prosecuting the defendants had expired.

Serzh Sargsyan, Barsam Sargsyan, and Georg Harutyunyan were referred to for prosecution based on the decision No. 38-179 of the RA Cassation Court, specifically the third part. However, they were subsequently released from criminal responsibility due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.

The criminal accusation detailed that between January 25 and February 7, 2013, a total of 15,391,765 liters of diesel fuel worth 489,160,310 AMD were fraudulently deducted from the state reserve fund. This fraudulent activity was carried out within the framework of the implementation of state assistance programs and was co-financed by Samvel Galstyan and Gevorg Harutyunyan.

Despite these allegations, Serzh Sargsyan denies any wrongdoing and his defenders argue that this process is merely a form of political persecution.

This update comes from NEWS.am, providing news from Armenia.