Stepan Samvelyan, Accused in Aram Sargsyan Attempted Assassination Case, Released from Custody
The Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan city, presided over by Judge Vahe Melikyan, decided to change the restrictive measure applied against businessman Stepan Samvelyan, replacing detention with a ban on leaving the country.
This was reported by his defender, Zaruhi Postanjyan, who published a copy of the court decision on her Facebook page.
Postanjyan had repeatedly stated previously that her client’s health condition was serious and his life was endangered in the detention facility. She reported that Samvelyan had suffered a myocardial infarction and had not fully recovered, yet, disregarding these circumstances, he was arrested on July 24.
According to the court’s decision, Samvelyan must be immediately released. The decision may be appealed to the Criminal Court of Appeals of the Republic of Armenia within a 10-day period from the moment of receipt.
It was previously known that the Investigative Committee (IC) had filed charges against Stepan Samvelyan for preparing an assassination attempt against Aram Sargsyan and illegal possession of ammunition. According to the IC, he had acquired and kept a «F-1» type combat grenade with a detonator in his apartment, which was discovered during a search conducted by the National Security Service (NSS).
It should be noted that Samvelyan had previously publicly accused Aram Sargsyan of extorting a share of his business and had criticized the current authorities.