YEREVAN. – The Criminal Court of Appeal of Armenia on Monday resumed the hearing on the Prosecutor General’s Office appeal of the first instance court’s decision on releasing ex-MP and retired General Manvel Grigoryan from prison on bail.

The hearing had commenced and adjourned on January 11.

To note, however, the situation is tense nearby the court building. Several dozen Vagharshapat (Etchmiadzin) residents are demonstrating outside the building, and with the demand that fellow city resident Grigoryan be immediately arrested again.

On December 21, 2018 the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction released Manvel Grigoryan from custody on an AMD 25mn (approx. US$51,600) bail. The Prosecutor General’s Office, however, has appealed this decision to the Criminal Court of Appeal.

Grigoryan was remanded in custody on June 19, and by the decision of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction.

He is charged with unlawfully acquiring and possessing weapons and ammunition, as well as committing large-scale embezzlement. In particular, it is about the appropriation of the aid that was sent during the days of the four-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh (Artsakh), in April 2016.