YEREVAN. – Do you consider the non-attendance of the defendants and some legal defenders in the case to respectable or not? Prosecutor Arsen Martirosyan asked this to the presiding judge at the court session that resumed Thursday on the criminal case against third President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan, Flash fuel company owner of Barsegh Beglaryan, former Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Samvel Galstyan, and Gevorg Harutyunyan, Head of the Plant Breeding Department of the same ministry.
"The court has considered it reasonable for them not to attend court hearings due to their age; the court does not consider it disrespectful,” the judge replied, in particular.
Also, the judge adjourned this hearing and scheduled the next one for August 6.
According to the indictment of this criminal case, being organized by Sargsyan, pushed by Beglaryan, and assisted by Galstyan and Harutyunyan, Karapetyan had wasted—from January 25 to February 7, 2013—AMD 489,160,310 of subsidy allocated from the government's reserve fund for the 15,391,765 liters of diesel fuel that was used during the implementation of state assistance programs.
Serzh Sargsyan, however, does not accept the charge against him. His lawyer Amram Makinyan claims that the charge is concocted. According to media reports, Sergo Karapetyan's testimony is at the basis of the charge. He and Sargsyan have confronted each other along the lines of this criminal case.
