YEREVAN. – The extradition process for Narek Sargsyan—the nephew of third President Serzh Sargsyan—is in progress, and the Armenian side has sent the necessary documents and is waiting for a response.

The Prosecutor General of Armenia, Artur Davtyan, on Friday told the aforementioned in a briefing with reporters at parliament.

When asked the reason for the delay in the extradition of Narek Sargsyan, Davtyan responded as follows: “The practice of similar processes shows that the given period is not worrisome yet.”

As per the Armenian attorney general, the matter of extradition has various nuances.

“The competent authority of the given country shall make a decision,” he explained. “Subsequently, the person [whose extradition is required] shall have the opportunity to appeal that decision at the same instances.”

In the prosecutor general’s words, there are cases when it takes up to one year until persons who are wanted by other countries are found in and extradited from Armenia.  

“As a rule, nobody is handed over that easily,” Artur Davtyan stressed.  

Narek Sargsyan, for whom Armenia has issued an international arrest warrant, was detained in Prague on December 6, 2018. At the moment of his detection, however, he submitted a fake Guatemalan citizen’s passport under the name Franklin Gonzales. 

On June 26, 2018 Armenia had launched a criminal case against Narek Sargsyan on charges of illegal possession of weapons and narcotic drugs.

In addition, the National Security Service (NSS) had informed that, back in 2013, Narek Sargsyan had borrowed from renowned Armenian painter Martiros Saryan’s heir fourteen drawings by the artist, but then had refused to return them.

Last summer, the NSS officers found these drawings as well as $115,000, €27,000, expensive watches, and many gold coins and jewelry at the place where Narek Sargsyan was registered.

On July 6, 2018 an arrest warrant was issued for Narek Sargsyan, and on July 24—an international arrest warrant.