On May 30, 2011, MP Spartak Melikyan initiated a civil suit in the courts seeking 600 million AMD in damages and other costs after his father Seyran Melikyan was killed in a traffic accident on February 24, 2011.

In his suit, MP Melikyan is demanding 550 million in "moral compensation" and a whopping 45 million for incurred funeral costs. The MP says he will donate the proceeds to old age homes in Armenia

Amazingly, in 2009, MP Melikyan only reported slightly over 4 million AMD in revenues.

A 17 year-old has been charged with involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment and has spent the past three months in jail awaiting trial.

The teenager should have been pardoned by the Kotayk Regional Court of Jurisdiction according to the rules of the recent general amnesty in Armenia, but at the last moment MP Melikyan filed his civil suit.

The court recommenced the trial but the the lawyer for MP Melikyan never showed. He telephoned claiming to be in the town of Vedi and experiencing medical problems.

The lawyer said that he wouldn't be able to make it to court for at least the next week or so.

This can be regarded as just another delaying tactic for pardoning the 17 year-old, given the dim prospects for the civil suit, especially when no substantiating documentation for the MP's incurred expenses have been submitted.

By the way, the concept "moral damages" are not included in the RA Civil Code. MP Melikyan acted like he wasn't aware of this.

During the pre-trial investigation, the 17 year-old has confessed his guilt and requested a speedy trial. This has been denied.