In connection with the criminal proceedings initiated regarding alleged cases of bribery, bribery giving, and abuse of authority by a group of officials of the Gyumri community, and considering the public attention and numerous media inquiries directed to the investigative authorities, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia reports that motions for pretrial detention have been submitted to the court for five of the eight arrested individuals. The community mayor has been placed in detention, one individual accused of giving a bribe has been placed under house arrest, and the investigation continues for the others. Decisions to suspend the officials from their duties have also been made. This was reported to NEWS.am by the Anti-Corruption Committee.

Regarding media claims that the audio recordings involving the mayor are falsified and unrelated to him, the ACC clarifies that the Gyumri mayor in his testimony neither denied nor confirmed having the conversation of the indicated content. Furthermore, he did not provide any information suggesting that his voice in the recordings was falsified or altered; he presented his own explanations and comments concerning the conversation.

Additionally, several individuals questioned within the criminal proceedings have given confessions, confirming the reliability of the factual data obtained through operational and intelligence measures.

The pretrial investigation is ongoing.

Earlier, on October 20, law enforcement officers entered the Gyumri City Hall early in the morning. Masked special forces quickly detained Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan from the back entrance of the City Hall and transported him to Yerevan’s Anti-Corruption Committee.

Later, the ACC reported that eight city hall employees, including Mayor Ghukasyan, were arrested on charges of accepting and giving bribes. Among the detainees was also the city’s chief architect, Henrik Gasparyan. The ACC’s released statement included a secretly recorded conversation between the mayor and the chief architect.

Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan has been placed in detention for two months.

Additionally, 33 individuals were arrested for participating in mass riots in Gyumri and obstructing justice.

It should be recalled that on October 1, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated in the National Assembly: “For six months, Gyumri has been governed by a clan, whose head, known by many as Vardanik, or according to the accusation, as the father of a community brushmaker thief, has allowed himself to make statements that recently publicly questioned the sovereignty of Armenia. Those who make statements against the sovereignty of Armenia must be removed from the political and public field.”