YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–Yerevan prosecutor Aram Tamazian held a press conference Thursday–where he announced more details regarding the continuing investigation into the case against former education minister Ashot Bleyan.
Bleyan was charged by a preliminary investigation body on four counts misconduct and embezzlement as rector of the Mkhitar Sparapet education institute.
Ashot Bleyan pleaded guilty to stretch of authority–embezzlement–waste through fraud and large-scale theft through abusing his office and is now facing a10 to 12-year prison term.
The investigation into the education institute revealed massive misappropriations–misconduct and embezzlement of large sums of funds–for which criminal charges have been filed.
Bleyan–a close ally of ousted president Levon Ter-Petrosyan–gained notoriety in when he led a delegation to Baku–at the height of the Karabakh self-defense struggle–preaching concessions by Armenia.
Furthermore–in 1995–during the 80th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide–Bleyan announced that the education ministry would remove the genocide from all public school curriculum–since the new generation of Armenia’s needed to learn about "happier" matters.