YEREVAN. – According to Pastinfo, the Special Investigation Service (SIS) of Armenia has completed its investigation into the case of third President Serzh Sargsyan.

There are several other defendants in this criminal case, including former Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan and owner of Flash company Barsegh Beglaryan. The investigative body has given the parties time to get acquainted with the case.

The SIS announced the indictment of Serzh Sargsyan on December 4, 2019. According to the official report, occupying the office of the President of the Republic of Armenia and using his respective official position, in 2013 he organized the theft of 489,160,310 drams by a group of officials. He was charged with a criminal offense, and a signature bond to not leave Armenia was chosen as the pretrial measure for him.

The former ruling Republican Party of Armenia stated that Serzh Sargsyan is subjected to political persecution, and his legal team noted that his functional immunity had not been overcome, and that it had filed an appeal—to both the prosecution and the court—against the decision to include Sargsyan in the case as an accused.