The Special Investigation Service of Armenia has rejected the appeal of Serzh Sargsyan’s attorney Amram Makinyan to eliminate the decision on engaging Serzh Sargsyan as an accused-on-trial in the criminal case being investigated by the Special Investigation Service, reports Head of the Public Relations and Information Department of the Prosecutor General’s Office Arevik Khachatryan.

“The appeal was rejected upon the decision of the prosecutor overseeing lawfulness of the preliminary investigation of the criminal case, with the reasoning that the appeal is groundless. The basis of the rejection was the functional immunity of the former President of Armenia, based on the consideration that an alleged act arising from the status and activities of the third President was ascribed to him. According to the legal stance expressed upon Decision No ED/0743/06/18 of the Court of Cassation of Armenia of 15 November 2018 and based on the appeal of the Prosecutor General of Armenia, “if the President, while performing his or her powers, was guided by private, personal interests or did not have the power to carry out the relevant action or carried it out by exceeding the powers reserved for him or her by the Constitution, such actions may not be in relation to the status of the President and must be evaluated as actions not connected with the status of the President”. “After an examination of the materials of the criminal case, the prosecutor came to the conclusion that, upon the decision on engaging Serzh Sargsyan as an accused-on-trial, actions that did not arise from the powers reserved for Serzh Sargsyan by the Constitution and laws of Armenia were ascribed to Serzh Sargsyan, and even formally, those actions have nothing to do with the status of the President of Armenia; thus, the constitutional guarantee for immunity is missing”,” he stated.