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Today in the inspector general’s courtroom judge Surik Ghazaryan passed decision concerning the deception case of Royal Armenia’s president, Gagik Hakopyan. It happens, though, that Hakopyan is in Spain due to health reasons. However, Hakopyan had presented his local address and telephone number to the court, saying if necessary he would be present at hearings. The court didn’t accept this, saying it was a simple case of deception on Hakopyan’s part. Attorney Ashot Sargsyan, on behalf of Hakopyan, told panorama.am that this “wasn’t a sentence, but a punishment.”

Hakopyan had asked the case to be delayed for one month, so he would be able to recover from a recent surgery and participate in the proceedings. Not taken into consideration was the fact that a case was also started against Royal Armenia’s vice-president, Aram Ghazaryan. Prosecutors have asked for the overturning of the decision by the first instance court in its entirety. September 11 is the scheduled date for the case’s resumption in the inspector general courtroom.

We remind that on July 16, in the first instance court of Nork-Marash, it was decided that facts didn’t substantiate the case against the defendants, acquitting the organization’s leaders and setting them free from the courtroom.

The defendants are accused of not fulfilling the payment of their customs taxes. Prosecutors are demanding a 12-year sentence for Hakopyan and 11 years for Ghazaryan.