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Indicted Ex-Minister Cautious After Release


Armenia - Former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan speaks to journalists, Yerevan, August 20, 2024.
Armenia - Former Defense Minister Davit Tonoyan speaks to journalists, Yerevan, August 20, 2024.

Davit Tonoyan, a former defense minister facing corruption charges, refrained from criticizing the Armenian government on Tuesday just days after being released from jail amid his ongoing trial.

While continuing to protest his innocence, Tonoyan appeared to rule out joining the Armenian opposition to campaign for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s removal from power.

When asked by journalists whether he could participate in antigovernment protests in Yerevan, he said: “Do I give the impression of being such an unserious person?”

“I don’t yet have a desire to engage in politics. Not yet,” added the 56-year-old.

Tonoyan was arrested in September 2021 in a criminal investigation into supplies of allegedly outdated rockets to Armenia’s air force. The National Security Service (NSS) charged him, two generals and an arms dealer with fraud and embezzlement that cost the state almost 2.3 billion drams ($5.7 million). These suspects, among them former army chief of staff Artak Davtian, have denied the accusations during the trial that began in January 2022.

Tonoyan claimed last November that the decision to arrest him was made at a meeting chaired by Pashinian. He went farther in February, saying that the premier is personally “directing” what he described as his political persecution.

The judge presiding over the marathon trial agreed to free Tonoyan on bail on August 15. Prosecutors have still not clarified whether they will appeal against the decision.

Tonoyan was unwilling to answer political questions on Tuesday when he spoke to the press before the latest court hearing in the trial. He even refused to say whether he still believes he was jailed for political reasons.

Instead, the ex-minister continued to deny the charges levelled against him. He insisted that the more than 4,000 air-to-surface rockets supplied to the Armenian military on his watch were and are still usable.

The NSS and prosecutors maintain that the rockets were not used during the 2020 war with Azerbaijan or were decommissioned before it. Citing the presence of state secrets in the criminal case, they have made sure that the trial is held behind closed doors.

Pashinian had appointed Tonoyan as defense minister right after coming to power in 2018. He sacked the latter in the wake of Armenia’s defeat in the six-week war.

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