Criminal proceedings against Lieutenant General Tiran Khachatryan will not be terminated after the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Ani Danielyan, rejected a motion seeking to end the prosecution.

The motion was based, in particular, on allegations that the time limits applicable to criminal prosecution had been violated, according to Pastinfo.

The court dismissed the request while noting that the issue is sensitive in nature and is currently also under consideration by the Constitutional Court.

At the same time, the court stated that a criminal accusation is an autonomous legal concept. It accepted the defense’s interpretation that actual criminal prosecution begins from the moment the state informs a person that they are suspected of committing a particular act, and that the relevant procedural time limits should be assessed from that point.

The presiding judge also noted that one of the most serious manifestations of de facto criminal prosecution occurs when restrictions are imposed on an individual.

The case stems from a September 2023 incident during protests in Yerevan, after which Khachatryan was questioned as a suspect and later charged.

Khachatryan was charged with hooliganism in connection with an incident recorded in Yerevan in September 2023, during the days of the ethnic cleansing of Artsakh. At that time, protests were taking place in the capital. According to case materials, one driver steered a vehicle toward demonstrators, and Tiran Khachatryan allegedly struck the vehicle with his hand.

In November 2023, Khachatryan was summoned for questioning regarding suspicion in the case. He declined to testify, after which the case reportedly saw no significant progress for nearly three years, while Khachatryan effectively remained in the status of a person subject to criminal prosecution.