On July 29, the Criminal Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction held its final hearing in the case of Sona Mnatsakanyan being hit by a traffic police car accompanying the Prime Minister. The investigation into the case has been going on for about 3 years, and the driver of the car, Aram Navasardyan, is an accused. The measure of restraint against him is a written undertaking not to leave the place; he has not been arrested since the initiation of the criminal case. Let us recall that Sona Mnatsakanyan was 31 weeks pregnant and was taken to the hospital already dead after fleeing the scene of the accident. Hetq.
The parties to the case made their final statements at the court hearing. The hearing lasted more than 4 hours, and the atmosphere was tense. Judge Karen Farkhoyan announced that he would announce the verdict on July 30. Below are the main points of the closing arguments of each of the parties to the trial.
The public prosecutor petitioned the court to pass a guilty verdict against the driver.
The first to deliver the closing statement was public prosecutor Armen Beglaryan. He presented the charges brought against Aram Navasardyan. According to it, Aram Navasardyan, being the commander of the 3rd officer platoon of the RA Police Traffic Police escort company and while on duty, on April 26, 2022, accompanied a special convoy of vehicles in his assigned official Toyota Prado car, moving in front of the convoy.
The car was moving along Paronyan Street in the direction of Proshyan Street at a speed of at least 108.7 km/h with the lights and sound signals on and, upon reaching the intersection of Paronyan and Leo Streets, violated the Traffic Rules (Traffic Regulations). The car was moving at a speed of at least 108.7 km/h, which exceeds the speed limit of 100 km/h. From the moment the danger to traffic arose, the driver did not take measures to reduce the speed, up to a complete stop. Immediate braking led to the creation of an emergency situation and the collision of the front right part of the car with the pedestrian Sona Mnatsakanyan, who was in the 31st week of pregnancy and calmly walked from left to right on a green traffic light intended for pedestrians, as a result of which, through negligence, it led to the death of the latter.
According to the indictment, after hitting Sona Mnatsakanyan, Aram Navasardyan left the scene of the accident and drove away.
According to state prosecutor Armen Beglaryan, throughout the trial, the defense disputed and considered two main issues. One of them concerned “one frame that is missing in the understanding of the second frame” recorded in the video expert’s report, and the second concerned the fact of speeding in connection with this. According to the state prosecutor, this is why the court granted the defense’s motions and called the experts. “The latter fully insisted on the conclusions they gave, their methodology, accuracy, methods of execution, circumstances, and it was the expert’s conclusion that had to confirm the criminal illegality of this act,” Armen Beglaryan noted. He stated that this act itself is classified as a crime committed through negligence, and negligence lies in the criminal arrogance of the driver, who is aware that he is committing an offense, but assumes that he will avoid the consequences, and in this case, the consequences could not be avoided. Beglaryan also stated that all the evidence examined in court confirms Aram Navasardyan’s guilt, none of them contradicts the other, but, on the contrary, complements each other. He petitioned the court to issue a guilty verdict against Aram Navasardyan.