A man in Armenia’s Tavoush Province finds himself in court for allegedly stealing eight chickens and one rooster.

According to the indictment, the man (let’s called him Karen), entered the unlocked chicken coopowned by Armineh Tamrazyan in Dilijan on the night of October 13, 2015 and stole poultry valued at 45,000 AMD (US$95).

Karen has been charged with “theft” (Article 177 of Armenia’s Criminal Code) and faces a penalty of 500,000 – 1 million AMD, or 2-5years’ imprisonment.

Karen hadn’t appeared in court for the last three hearings for reasons not acceptable.

The court then wrote to Dilijan police, instructing them to find Karen and force him to make it to court. The cops weren’t able to locate Karen.

The defendant had been free on his own recognizance but the state prosecutor then demanded that Karen be kept in detention.

Judge Zoya Zakinyan agreed with the prosecutor and issued a detention order for Karen.

Two weeks later, the police found Karen and he was transferred to the Vanadzor Penitentiary.

His trial continues.

One can only wonder if the courts will ever display the same zeal when it comes to holding government officials and their cronies to account for embezzling and squandering funds reaching into the millions.