Prosecutor charged the defendant with the case of attempted illegal  importation of Portable Air Defense Missile Igla

ArmInfo.In the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nor Nork communities in Yerevan, the court session continues on the case of the attempted illegal importation of Igla MANPADS to Armenia under the chairmanship of Judge Arshak Vardanyan.

Prosecutor Aram Aramyan today presented charges to defendant Samvel  Babayan (ex-Defense Minister of Artsakh), according to which he is  accused of motivating a group of people to illegally acquire,  transfer and hide a portable anti-aircraft missile complex "Igla"  that is a military weapon.

According to the charges, Samvel Babayan materially motivated  Vaharshapat resident Sanasar Gabrielyan to illegally find the  necessary air defense missile system, promising him $ 50,000 for it.  Sanasar Gabrielyan turned to Armen Poghosyan and had business  contacts with Hrachya Mayilianu in Georgia, promising to give them a  pre-agreed amount. According to the preliminary agreement, Sanasar  Gabrielyan, Hrachya Mailyan and Armen Poghosyan left for Georgia on  September 1, 2016, where they tried to find the necessary air defense  missile system.

Then they also visited Georgia periodically for the same purpose.  During the next visit on February 22, 2017, Armen Poghosyan and  Hrachya Mailyan came to an agreement with Armenian citizen Robert  Avagyan, who has been living in Georgia for the last several years,  about granting MANPADS for $ 38,000, which was done. Then Hrachya  Mailyan transported the complex from Georgia to Armenia (to  Vagharshapat).

Concerning the charges brought against him, Samvel Babayan said  today: "I do not plead guilty, and secondly, I am accused because I  transported military weapons from Georgia, passed the incident on  television for a week, then refuted this information and noted that I  am responsible for every step and I can give explanations. I do not  plead guilty and I think this is a fictitious accusation, I am ready  to answer all questions. "

The defendants David Harutyunyan and Zhora Zakaryan did not express  their position regarding the charges brought against them, Andranik  and Karen Kocharian did not admit their guilt.

Sanasar Gabrielyan and Armen Poghosyan were charged for illegally  purchasing, carrying Igla antiaircraft missile system, which is a  military weapon.  They are charged under part 2 of A 235 of the  Armenian  Criminal Code. 

The accused Armen Poghosyan stated that he does not want to express his position regarding the charge brought against him, but Sanasar Gabrielyan stated that he does not understand the essence of the charge. Asked by the judge whether he pleads guilty, Gabrielyan answered in the negative.   To note,Seven accused - Samvel Babayan, Sanasar Gabrielyan, Armen Poghosyan, Karen Kocharyan, Andranik Kocharyan, Zhora Zakaryan and David Harutyunyan are in charge of the case of the Igla anti- aircraft missile system.