The court has completed the investigation of the criminal case against businessman Amirkhanyan

The investigation of the criminal case against businessman Arayik Amirkhanyan, who is charged with complicity in the murder of ex-deputy of the Verkhovna Rada Ilya Kiva, has been completed. Lawyer Artur Putukyan informed Izvestia about this on December 1.

According to the lawyer, the defense — Putukyan and Vladimir Sazbandyan — will begin reviewing the case materials in the near future. The lawyers emphasize that their client denied involvement throughout the investigation and gave consistent testimony, some of which was confirmed during the investigation.

"Despite the fact that Amirkhanyan denies involvement in Kiva's murder, gave consistent and truthful testimony during the preliminary investigation, some of which were confirmed during the investigation, and some required more thorough recheck, the investigative body, unfortunately, took the path of least resistance and instead of searching for the real customers and perpetrators of the crime, decided, in fact, to convict Amirkhanyan, ignoring the arguments of innocence, which does not meet the goals of criminal proceedings and undoubtedly harmed the establishment of the truth in the case," Putukyan said.

According to the defenders, most of the petitions from the accused and his lawyers were rejected by the investigation, and the contradictions in the testimony were not eliminated.

"Practically none of the petitions filed by the defenders and the accused were satisfied by the investigative body, nor were the contradictions in the testimony of the individuals eliminated through confrontations between them. I agree with my colleague's opinion that it is difficult to call such an investigation effective. The accused intends to exercise his right to have his case heard by a jury," the lawyer said.

The defense believes that the investigation was completed prematurely, and the evidence base looks incomplete.

"According to the Criminal procedure legislation, the decision-making on the conduct of investigative and other procedural actions, their sufficiency, is attributed to the competence of the investigator. Nevertheless, the defense considers the end of the preliminary investigation premature, since not all the necessary investigative actions in the criminal case have been carried out, and the collected indirect evidence, in the opinion of the defenders, is insufficient to send the case to court," the defenders emphasized.

According to lawyer Vladimir Sazbandyan, a number of important issues arose during the preliminary investigation, which, in his opinion, remained unresolved.

"Under such circumstances, the investigation can hardly be called comprehensive, complete and objective," he concluded.

Kiva's body was found on December 6, 2023 at the Velich Country club in a park near Moscow. Then the killer fired twice, approaching the politician from behind. The first bullet hit the heart area, the second one hit the head.

Later, on December 11, 2023, the Crimean Wind Telegram channel reported, citing sources in the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), that the SBU had been preparing an operation to eliminate Kiva for a long time. Her agents studied all possible details of the routes of the former MP, his daily routine and habits.

On September 16, a court in the Moscow Region arrested Amirkhanyan as part of the investigation into the murder of Ilya Kiva until November 2. On October 30, the court extended the measure of restraint for Amirkhanyan. It was noted that the businessman will remain in custody until December 6.

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