Mamikon Aslanyan, who led Vanadzor for five years, will remain in custody. today the court rejected the petition to release him from custody, human rights defender Ruben Melikyan reported to Azatutyun.
Aslanyan has been in prison since December 2021. He is accused of expropriating the lands of Vanadzor by drawing up false documents during his tenure. His two subordinates, the lawyer and the chief architect of the community, were also charged. Unlike Aslanyan, they are free.
The law enforcement officers announced this criminal case and detained Aslanyan immediately after the Vanadzor Council of Elders elections. He never had the opportunity to return to the office of the head of the community, even though the political force led by him received the most votes in the 2021 elections and had a chance to be elected.
According to Aslanyan, the case against him is completely politicized. “If we look at the chronology of the arrest, adding up the sum total of the elections, the actions that I am accused of, we will understand that it is a case that is entirely within the framework of a political order,” Mamikon Aslanyan told “Azatutyun”.