An Armenian court has sentenced police Major Aram Navasardyan to 1 year and 6 months in prison for the death of 28-year-old Sona Mnatsakanyan and her unborn child, who were struck and killed by a vehicle from Nikol Pashinyan’s motorcade in April 2022. Mnatsakanyan was 31 weeks pregnant at the time of the collision.

Despite the prison term, Navasardyan was not taken into custody. His lawyers have already filed an appeal, allowing him to remain free while the case is reviewed by the Court of Appeal.

The verdict, announced by Judge Karen Farkhoyan of the Yerevan First Instance Court, also bans Navasardyan from driving for 1.5 years. He was ordered to pay the state 834,000 drams in court costs for forensic examinations and to compensate the victim’s family with 4 million drams in damages.

Navasardyan, commander of the 3rd platoon of the Police Escort Battalion, was found guilty of violating traffic rules resulting in death and of leaving the scene of the accident. For the latter offense, however, no punishment was applied due to its recent decriminalization.

The victim’s parents, through their lawyer Raffi Aslanyan, continue to accuse the authorities of shielding senior members of Pashinyan’s security detail from responsibility. They argue that motorcade officials violated speed restrictions and failed to properly block street crossings. Aslanyan has also demanded accountability for the disappearance of radio communications from the convoy, which investigators claimed were lost due to technical problems.

After years of silence, Pashinyan commented on the case on July 16, 2025, denying responsibility and describing himself as “a bus passenger… three cars away” from the collision. He said he had personally called the family to offer condolences, adding: “I’m sorry… There’s a court case going on, what should I do?”