27 september 2018

The criminal prosecution against the minor citizen of Turkey has been suspended based on humanitarian principles

The criminal prosecution against the minor citizen of Turkey has been suspended based on humanitarian principles

On 25 July 2018 the criminal case was initiated in the Investigation Department of the National Security Service relating to illegal crossing of protected RA state border without required documents by the minor citizen of Turkey.
According to obtained data, on 24 July 2018 sixteen-year-old Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen crossed the protected state border of RA without proper permission, entering the Republic of Armenia from the Republic of Turkey and immediately after, while overcoming the barbwire of the border engineering structure near the “Meghrashat” border post, he was detained by the officers of the Border Department of RF Federal Security Service (FSB) in RA.
Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen was charged with paragraph 1 of Article 329 of the RA Criminal Code, and detention was chosen as a preventive measure towards him.
In the course of the preliminary investigation Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen regretted for what he did and mentioned in his confession statement that he always wanted to visit Armenia to compare it with his home province of Kars and due to his being a minor and not having the required documents, the only way was the illegal border crossing.
As a result of operational measures and investigative activities the possible connection of Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen to extremist or terrorist organizations has been checked but no data has been received confirming this connection.
On 25 September 2018 the body conducting the criminal proceeding, guided by humanitarian principles and taking into account that Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen is a minor and that he provided true information on all the circumstances of the case and truly regretted for what he did, determined to suspend the criminal prosecution against Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen and terminate the criminal proceeding. Applied preventive detention has been suspended and Umud Ali Mustafa Ozmen has been given an opportunity to leave the Republic of Armenia according to the prescribed procedure.

Note: Every person suspected in or charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed innocent unless proved guilty in the manner prescribed by the Criminal Procedure Code of RA and unless the verdict comes into legal force.