The decision comes a day after Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court rejected a corresponding motion by prosecutors and refused to reinstate such a ban, maintaining the existing bail condition of 30 million drams (approximately $78,000) that had earlier replaced the travel restriction.
Sargsyan, who served as Armenia’s third president from 2008 to 2018, faces several criminal charges, including abuse of power, illegal land transfer, and bribery. He has denied all the charges.
The former president was summoned to the ACC for questioning on November 6 in connection with a fourth criminal case opened against him in July. Investigators claim that Sargsyan gave privileged treatment to a businessman close to him before intervening in the latter’s business activities to benefit himself and his family.
According to the ACC, Sargsyan played a key role in the 2015 sale of lucrative companies owned by the late businessman Mikhail Bagdasarov to a firm linked to one of Sargsyan’s sons-in-law.
Sargsyan’s lawyer, Amram Makinian, dismissed the charges.
Armen Ashotian, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia led by Sargsyan, recalled in a Facebook video on Thursday that Bagdasarov had denied the allegations when he and the former president were interrogated together in April 2020. Ashotian said Bagdasarov, who spoke only Russian, claimed that his testimony had been mistranslated at the time. The businessman died in August 2020.
Ashotian said the episode remains part of the case now sent to court and described the travel ban on Sargsyan as “a political sanction.”
Speaking to reporters after the court hearing on November 5, Sargsyan denied having any plans to leave Armenia, saying he would not do so “even if I learned that the court intended to sentence me to death.”
Sargsyan, who briefly served as Armenia’s prime minister after constitutional amendments made the post the country’s top political position, was ousted in April-May 2018 following sustained street protests led by current Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. The demonstrations opposed Sargsyan’s perceived attempt to extend his power after two consecutive terms as president. Armenia’s current authorities deny any political motives behind the prosecution of Sargsyan and other former officials, maintaining that investigative bodies and courts act independently.
