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The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by judge Vahe Misakyan, on Thursday resumed the trial in the case of Armenia’s third President Serzh Sargsyan and two others.

Serzh Sargsyan has been charged with organizing an alleged embezzlement of government funds along with other officials through misuse of official position.

The indictment said that Sargsyan used his official position in January and February 2013, when he was president, to steer a government fuel contract to a particular company that cost the state an additional 489 million drams (roughly $1 million) in subsidies.

Gevorg Harutyunyan, the former head of the Plant Breeding Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, and Flash company owner Barsegh Beglaryan have also been charged as part of the criminal case.

At today’s hearing, the prosecutor read out the final part of the indictment.

Sargsyan, who was present at the court hearing, again denied any wrongdoing, denouncing the charges against him as “fabricated” and “politically motivated”.

“I heard it read out by the prosecutor, it has been written by people who are not familiar with the case, the charges are completely fabricated, were invented by the Special Investigation Service and approved by the Prosecutor’s Office as part of a political order,” Sargsyan said.

When the judge asked whether it could be concluded that Serzh Sargsyan did not plead guilty, the former president replied: "I am not guilty."

The two other defendants in the case also did not plead guilty.

The next hearing in the trial was scheduled for 5 August.