Vaan Shirkhanyan returned to prison

Vaan Shirkhanyan, the former Armenian Deputy Minister of Defence, suspected of involvement in an armed criminal grouping, has been transferred from the hospital to the penitentiary institution "Yerevan-Kentron". This was reported by the advocate.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that Vaan Shirkhanyan was detained on December 19, 2015. In February, he was diagnosed with venous thrombosis in his leg. On March 15, the Vaan Shirkhanyan's defender reported that his client's condition deteriorated significantly, and he could not move independently. Vaan Shirkhanyan underwent an emergency surgery.

Vaan Shirkhanyan, who held the post of the Armenian First Deputy Minister of Defence in 1995-1999, was arrested in a criminal case on armed grouping, which was led, according to investigators, by Arthur Vartanyan, the head of the organization "Armenian Shield". In November 2015, in Yerevan, the police started to detain suspects in the case.

On March 21, Vaan Shirkhanyan was discharged from the medical centre named after Vladimir Avagyan, where he underwent an emergency surgery, reports advocate Stepan Voskanyan.

Let us remind you that March 21, the advocate announced that he had filed a motion to the General Prosecutor's Office to change the pre-trial restriction measure for Vaan Shirkhanyan.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.