Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeals today denied a motion, filed by the State Prosecutor’s Office, to arrest former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, charged with money laundering, accepting bribes, and obstructing justice in the wake of Armenia’s disputed 2008 presidential election.

On December 14,  a lower court decided not to arrest Gevorgyan, who served as Secretary of Armenia’s National Security Council during the crackdown on political unrest in March 2008.

He was appointed deputy prime minister a month later by then Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan.