New Criminal Charges Brought Against Former Chief of General Staff Movses Hakobyan

YEREVAN — General-Colonel Movses Hakobyan has been charged in a criminal case involving the supply of unusable military equipment from Russia worth over 4 billion AMD.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, Hakobyan—who previously held the positions of Chief of the General Staff and Deputy Minister of Defense—is accused of official negligence that caused significant material damage or other serious consequences.

Hakobyan declined to comment to Azatutyun (Radio Liberty). However, his lawyer, Mushegh Aleksanyan, stated that the general categorically denies the charges.

The Prosecutor’s Office clarified that this case is unrelated to another criminal case concerning defective missiles, which involves other former high-ranking military officials, including former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan and former Chief of the General Staff Artak Davtyan.

“Mr. Hakobyan denies the charges simply because the actions he is accused of have nothing to do with him. He is being blamed for decisions and actions that were not within his authority, and which were actually carried out by a higher-ranking body,” said his lawyer.

In contrast, Prosecutor Karen Karapetyan insists that the contract for the arms supply was signed in 2016 with a Russian company by Hakobyan in his capacity as Deputy Minister of Defense. In an interview with the Public Broadcaster, the prosecutor stated that the contract included mobile radio-locating systems for reconnaissance and fire control.

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, the systems were delivered in 2017 to units of the Armenian and Artsakh armed forces without proper field testing.

“However, during their very first use in real-life conditions, the systems failed to fulfill their intended functions and did not meet their tactical and technical specifications,” the prosecutor said.

Furthermore, in 2018, Russian specialists reportedly came to Armenia to repair the systems. As part of this episode, a charge of negligence has also been brought against the former head of the military’s missile and artillery department, Armen Harutyunyan, who also denies the accusation.

“There was no verification of whether the systems were successfully repaired or suitable for further use, and the Russian specialists ultimately left Armenia,” noted the prosecutor.

The Prosecutor’s Office is seeking to recover 4.3 billion AMD from both generals in favor of the state. Hakobyan’s lawyer told Azatutyun that although the statute of limitations for the alleged offense has expired, his client is prepared to prove his innocence in court.