Armenia's Prosecutor General's Office has appealed the Anti-Corruption Court's decision in the case of Goris Mayor Arush Arushanyan, which rejected a request by the Probation Service to replace his sentence with imprisonment.

According to the Prosecutor General's Office, the ruling has been challenged before the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal, Auroranews.am reported.

On March 28, 2022, the Syunik Court of First Instance, presided over by Judge Gnel Gasparyan, delivered its verdict in the case involving Arushanyan and several co-defendants. The court acquitted Arushanyan of the election-related charges brought against him.

He was, however, found guilty on another count and sentenced to one year and six months in prison. After crediting the eight months he had spent in pretrial detention, the court set his final sentence at six months' imprisonment, the execution of which was suspended.

The court also imposed a probation period of one and a half years, fined Arushanyan, and banned him from holding the office of head of a local self-government body for five years as an additional penalty.

The court also acquitted Lusine Avetyan, head of the Karahunj settlement, along with Samvel Dinunts and Hrayr Baghdasaryan, while Erik Aghajanyan and Harut Lalazaryan were convicted. Appeals were subsequently filed against the verdict, which later entered into legal force.