The General Military Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee has completed the preliminary investigation into criminal proceedings concerning alleged abuse of official authority by former Armenian Defense Minister Seyran Ohanyan during the apartment allocation process.
The Investigative Committee said the preliminary investigation had obtained apparent factual evidence indicating that S.O., while serving as Armenia’s defense minister, exceeded his official authority with the assistance of members of the Defense Ministry’s Central Housing Commission, causing substantial harm to the rights and legitimate interests of several individuals.
In particular, on July 12, 2008, M.I., head of the Internal Security Department of the Armenian Defense Ministry’s administrative staff, submitted a report to the head of the ministry’s administrative staff requesting that an apartment be allocated to his family. As a result, he was included in the housing registration process for servicemen in need of improved housing conditions.
In addition, on July 17, M.I. submitted a report with the same content to Defense Minister S.O., in which, in addition to requesting an apartment, he expressed a desire to receive housing in Yerevan on an expedited basis.
According to the Investigative Committee, on the same day, Defense Minister S.O. intervened in the process governed by the procedure approved under Armenian Government Decision No. 384-N of March 7, 2007, “On Housing Provision for Servicemen in the System of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Armenia.”
Under that procedure, responsibility for registering servicemen in need of improved housing conditions and allocating apartments to them was vested exclusively in the commission, while the minister had no authority to intervene in those processes. According to the Investigative Committee, S.O., motivated by a desire to grant the request of M.I., with whom he had friendly ties, instructed the commission to allocate him an apartment on an expedited basis.
The statement says that at a commission meeting held on August 11, 2008, the chairman and commission members included M.I. on the housing registration list of servicemen in need of improved housing conditions. During the same meeting, they then voted to allocate him a three-room apartment in Yerevan on an expedited basis.
“Thus, beneficiaries within the Armenian Defense Ministry system who were genuinely in need of improved housing conditions and had remained registered on housing waiting lists for years were deprived of their lawful and legally guaranteed right to social protection by obtaining apartments for gratuitous use in accordance with the procedure established by Armenian legislation. As a result, substantial harm was caused to the rights and legitimate interests of those individuals.
“By decision of the supervising prosecutor, public criminal prosecution has been initiated against S.O. under Part 1 of Article 441 of the Criminal Code — abuse or exceeding of official or service authority, or influence arising from such authority, by an official.
“The criminal proceedings, together with the indictment, have been forwarded to the supervising prosecutor with a motion to approve it and send the case to court for consideration,” the statement said.
