Former Armenian police chief released despite being found guilty of abuse of power

Former chief of the Armenian police, Vladimir Gasparyan, and three other former police officials have been found guilty of abuse of power, forgery, and embezzlement by Armenia’s anti-corruption court, but have been released after amnesties were applied to all four. 

On Tuesday, the court found Gasparyan, his deputy Levon Yeranosyan, and two other former police officials guilty.

Vladimir Gasparyan was found guilty in two cases, but exempted from serving the sentence for one on the basis of the statute of limitations having expired, while the other sentence was dropped on the basis of an amnesty declared in 2019. 

The three other former police officers were released on the same basis. 

Both the Prosecutor’s Office and a lawyer representing Gasparyan vowed to challenge the Anti-Corruption Court’s decision, with the Prosecutor’s Office announcing it would appeal the decision to release those found guilty, while Alexander Kochubaev, a lawyer representing Gasparyan, called the guilty verdict ‘inadmissible’.

‘It will definitely be appealed because any decision other than an acquittal is illegal,’ said Kochubaev.

One of the charges stated that while serving as the head of the Military Police Department in 1997–2011, despite being aware that three soldiers were continuing to receive their salaries while not performing their duties or attending their military units, Gasparyan did not take any measures. 

In 2022 the Special Investigation Service found that the soldiers in question had been working as drivers and bodyguards for the brothers of third President Serzh Sargsyan.

Gasparyan was also found guilty of illegally allocating property worth a total of ֏35 million ($91,000) from the police budget while serving as police chief from 2011–2018 to police officers who did not require improved housing conditions. 

The Special Investigation Service discovered that one of the properties had been allocated to a person who had been employed at the Police Culture Centre for only six days, but who had provided music production services for Gasparyan’s daughter.

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