A Yerevan court today refused to grant bail to Manvel Grigoryan, a retired Armenian Army general charged with illegal arms possession and embezzlement.

Defense lawyers had filed a motion to get Grigoryan released from pre-trial detention on AMD 20 ($41,200) million bail.

Grigoryan, who heads the Yerkrapah Union (an organization of army vets that promotes itself as a non-profit charity assisting vets and their families), was detained on June 19, three days after employees of the National Security Service (NSS) raided his Etchmiadzin home and a summer resort in Arshaluys, uncovering a large cache of weapons and boxes of donated medical and food supplies and clothing that were destined for Armenian troops during the April 2016 “Four Day War” on the Artsakh frontline.

Also found at Grigoryan’s summer house were boxes of supplies allocated by the Ministry of Defense and clearly marked “For Soldiers”, and not intended for resale.