"Zhoghovurd" daily writes:
"On January 23, 2026, Judge Hrachya Mekhakyan of the Armavir Marz Court left for a separate room in order to deliver a verdict in the criminal case of Narek Mkrtchyan, the RA Ambassador to the USA. However, he scheduled additional hearings on January 26. Judging by the situation, either the judge has not received answers to some questions in the criminal case and is appointing additional hearings to get them final, or maybe he has other concerns about making a final decision.
Let's note that the criminal case of Mkrtich Mkrtchyan, the brother of the RA Ambassador to the USA, Narek Mkrtchyan, is being examined by judge Hrachya Mekhakyan, who is the son of the sister of the former MP Ruben Hayrapetyan, the son-in-law of the former mayor of Armavir, Ruben Khlghatyan. Time will tell if the sister's son or the famous son-in-law is constrained by the criminal cases of the relatives of the CP members or not. Let's remind that on December 25, 2025, the court of Armavir region decided to leave the combination of alternative measures of detention against the defendant Mkrtich Arshak Mkrtchyan, the brother of the RA Ambassador to the USA Narek Mkrtchyan, the bail in the amount of 2 million AMD and the ban on absenteeism unchanged, and the alternative measure of detention was not to extend the house arrest and to replace administrative control with alternative detention.
ArmLur.am reported that the brother of the RA ambassador to the USA was charged with illegal possession of weapons. Mkrtich Mkrtchyan was arrested on August 4. The RA Investigative Committee informed ArmLur.am that criminal proceedings were initiated in connection with the incident under Article 335, Part 1 of the Criminal Code (Illegal trafficking of firearms, their main components, munitions and other materials, devices, objects), Article 393, Part 1 (narcotics, psychotropic substances). (psychoactive) substances, their preparations or their equivalent substances (analogues) with the purpose of carrying out illegal trafficking or their illegal trafficking) and part 1 of Article 396 (illegal trafficking of narcotic drugs, psychotropic (psychoactive) substances, their preparations or their equivalent substances (analogues) or precursors without the purpose of trafficking).
The actual pre-investigative body was satisfied only to charge the brother of the RA ambassador to the US with the status of an accused in the case of illegal weapons, and they covered up the topic of drugs."
Details in today's issue of "Zhoghovurd" daily.
