Armen Ashotian was charged in November 2022 with abuse of power and money laundering in connection with his past chairmanship of the Board of Trustees of Yerevan’s Mkhitar Heratsi Medical University. The accusations stem from a number of property acquisitions carried out by the university administration on his alleged orders.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee also charged Ashotian with “waste” of public funds following his arrest in June 2023 which it attributed to his alleged attempts to obstruct its inquiry. The oppositionist, who is a deputy chairman of Sarkisian’s Republican Party (HHK), has accused the investigators and the judge presiding over his trial of executing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s orders.
The judge moved Ashotian to house arrest last September. He has since repeatedly refused to free Ashotian pending a verdict in the trial.
The higher Court of Appeals ultimately ended the house arrest while putting some restrictions on Ashotian’s freedom of movement.
“The prison + house arrest lasted for a total of 777 days,” one of the defense lawyers, Ruben Melikian, said in a social media post. He expressed hope that “all other political prisoners” will also be set free soon.
Ashotian, 50, was an influential figure during Sarkisian’s rule, serving as education minister from 2012-2016 and subsequently heading the Armenian parliament’s foreign relations committee. He has been a vocal critic of Pashinian.