Legal

RA Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan presented details regarding the charges filed against the former Deputy Chief of Police, Sasha Afyan, in the “March 1” case.

RA Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan announced in the National Assembly that the Prosecutor General’s Office intends to send a request to the Russian Federation for the extradition of former Prosecutor General Gevorg Kostanyan and Vahagn Harutyunyan, the former head of the investigative group for the “March 1” case.
According to her, the former officials are accused of abuse of official authority, falsification of evidence, and distorting the investigation of the case following March 1, 2008. They are currently located in Russian territory. The Prosecutor General stated that the issue of extradition is being discussed within the framework of multilateral international agreements, but Armenia has not yet received the Russian side’s consent regarding the extradition of these citizens.
Anna Vardapetyan added that the refusal to extradite some defendants is related to citizenship: the Russian Federation does not extradite its own citizens. According to her, in such situations, the possibility of in absentia judicial proceedings is foreseen, which allows for the defendants to be tried regardless of their location.
Kostanyan became a defendant in the “March 1” case on November 24, 2019, and was declared wanted when he failed to appear before the Special Investigation Service (SIS). Detention was chosen as his pre-trial measure.

The Anti-Corruption Court of the Republic of Armenia (RA) decided in its session on November 18 to extend the detention period for businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan by two months.

The Prosecutor’s Office has submitted the criminal proceedings to the court, related to the incident of hindering the pre-election campaign of the “Hanrapetutyun” (Republic) party participating in the Local Self-Government (LSG) elections of the enlarged Vagharsapat community in Armavir province on November 16, 2025.