The Court of Appeal has rejected the request to transfer ex-deputy defense minister of Armenia Vahan Shirkhanyan to a specialized medical institution, saying that it is for the Justice Ministry Penitentiary to tackle that issue.
Shirkhanyan's lawyer Stepan Voskanyan has already said that he is going to apply to the Justice Ministry Penitentiary to address the issue as soon as possible.
To recall, Shirkhanyan was detained on December 19, 2015 on suspicion of complicity in the activities of the armed gang in Yerevan. He is suspected of cooperation with the specified gang (Article 223 Part 2 of the Armenian Criminal Code). On December 21, the court chose arrest as the measure of restraint against Shirkhanyan. The latter, however, pleads not guilty. More than two dozens of people were detained over the case of the armed group. Among them are Garnik Margaryan, the leader of the Motherland and Dignity Party, and Vladimir Arakelyan, the owner of the Yeghvard Sport Shoes Factory OJSC. According to the National Security Service, the armed group plotted a series of heavy crimes in Armenia.