Court rejects request to arrest police officer involved in deadly car crash in Yerevan

Panorama
Armenia –

The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction has rejected a motion to arrest a police officer whose car struck and killed a young pregnant woman while escorting Nikol Pashinyan’s motorcade in Yerevan.

The 29-year-old woman, Sona Mnatsakanyan, was hit by a police SUV while crossing a street in central Yerevan on April 26. Its driver, Aram Navasardyan, did not stop after the accident to help the victim.

Raffi Aslanyan, a lawyer representing the victim’s family, could not provide any information on the court decision, saying they had learned of it from media reports.

He found it difficult to say on what grounds the court had rejected the motion for arrest. "However, the failure to arrest the man from the beginning and charge him for fleeing the scene as well as taking action only after 15 days most probably led to such a decision,” he told Panorama.am.

Raffi Aslanyan reiterates that the aggrieved party will consistently strive to ensure that the criminal case goes to trial.