In the Holy See, the former ambassador of Armenia Mikael Minasyan will be tried in absentia, the court has accepted the petition of the prosecutor.
The General Prosecutor’s Office also reminds that by the prosecutor’s decision of August 24, 2023, a public criminal prosecution was initiated against Minasyan for legalizing particularly large property obtained through criminal means (money laundering).
Mikael Minasyan, who is also the son-in-law of the third president of RA, Serzh Sargsyan, is accused of illegal enrichment, submitting false information in the declaration and legalizing property obtained through criminal means. He is wanted for 2020. from March 23.
In 2022, the Prosecutor’s Office learned from the media that it has been several months since Interpol stopped the search for Minasyan, who is accused of serious charges. At that time, it was only found out that it was Minasyan who applied to the international search organization to remove him from the list of wanted persons, and Interpol satisfied the application.
A year ago, a decision was made to carry out proceedings in absentia against the ex-ambassador accused in criminal proceedings.
A few months ago, a new criminal prosecution was initiated against him, adding 13 more articles to the three articles of the criminal case initiated in 2018.
Until 2021, 46-year-old Minasyan, who is wanted by Armenian law enforcement officers, regularly criticized the authorities from his kitchen, presenting, according to his definition, the lies of the authorities. After the 2021 extraordinary parliamentary elections, the former ambassador became inactive on social networks. Even now, it is not known what he thinks about the new criminal prosecution initiated in the summer. But his position on previous accusations is known. Lawyer Amram Makinyan told “Azatutyun” several times in the past years that the defendant does not admit guilt, and the accusations are false and are considered fabricated.