The police report that Nver Hovhannisyan, the director of the Vardenis Psychiatric Hospital, has been released on his own recognizance.   

Police cite health reasons for the change in Hovhannisyan’s pre-trial detention.

Hovhannisyan had been charged with trafficking after a Hetq article revealing that he had forced a group of hospital patients up to the Nerkin Shorzha village and told them to start grazing the sheep and cows. The patients also had to milk the animals, some of which belong to the hospital, with others belonging to Hovhannisyan and his friends.

Hovhannisyan has been temporarily replaced by hospital deputy director Armen Avagyan.