The court refused to allow investigators to hold Lieutenant-General Tiran Khachatrian, a former deputy chief of the Armenian army’s General Staff, in pre-trial detention for three more months. Khachatrian was set free in the courtroom. He will have to post the bail worth 10 million drams ($25,000) within three days.
Khachatrian was prosecuted despite the fact that he received Armenia’s highest state award from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during the six-week war. Armenia’s Investigative Committee said on January 6 that he showed a “negligent attitude towards the performance of his official duties” when he commanded from October 7-17, 2020 Armenian troops deployed south of Nagorno-Karabakh. It enabled Azerbaijani forces to break through that section of the frontline and make large territorial gains, the law-enforcement agency added in a statement.
The statement sharply contrasted with Pashinian’s decision on October 20, 2020 to bestow the title of National Hero on Khachatrian and another general. The premier attributed the decision to what he portrayed as a successful Armenian counteroffensive southwest of Karabakh. Azerbaijani forces continued their advance in that area in the following days, however.
Khachatrian denies the accusations levelled against him. His lawyers have claimed that the criminal case is designed to punish the general for his “political and civic position” and help the Armenian authorities find scapegoats for their disastrous handling of the war.
Khachatrian was sacked in February 2021 just hours after laughing off Pashinian’s claim that the Armenian army’s most advanced Russian-made missiles seriously malfunctioned during the war. The sacking prompted an unprecedented statement by the army’s top brass accusing Pashinian of incompetence and misrule and demanding his resignation. The premier condemned the statement as a coup attempt.
Khachatrian has since been a vocal critic of Pashinian, voicing support for repeated opposition attempts to topple him.
Opposition leaders hold Pashinian responsible for Armenia’s defeat in the Karabakh war. Pashinian has put the blame on the country’s former leaders.