On 25 February, the first hearing on the criminal case against Armenia’s former president Serzh Sargsyan and others started in Yerevan, reported news.am. The criminal case also involves former Minister of Agriculture Sergo Karapetyan, owner of Flash company Barsegh Beglaryan, former Deputy Minister of Agriculture Samvel Galstyan, and former head of the Ministry's Department of Crop Production Gevorg Harutyunyan. 

Prior to entering the court, Sargsyan spoke to his supporters who gathered in front of the court. “I am grateful that you came to support me, and to a large extent, you came to defend justice. There is hope that there are still judges in Armenia for whom justice is above everything; just as for me, for you, for the majority of the Armenian people,“ he said. He also added that the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh is above everything, and he asked his supporters to return home, to engage in their daily work, but not forgetting about Armenia's security. 

The Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) also issued a statement before the start of the trial. “…The case against Sargsyan was opened on the basis of only one testimony. During the investigation, the Special Investigative Service carried out a number of illegal actions, including the biased attacks on Serzh Sargsyan by the state propaganda machine. [These] indicate  that the case is custom-made and has exclusively political  implication,“ the statement read. The statement also emphasized that the beginning of the trial is taking place against the background of a weak policy of the current government regarding the Nagorno-Karabakh process. 

Sargsyan and other officials were charged on 4 December 2019 over an alleged organized embezzlement of 489 million drams (just over $1 million) in government funds allocated in 2013 for the provision of subsidized diesel fuel to farmers (Caucasus Watch reported). Before being charged, Sargsyan returned to Armenian political life after an 1,5 year sabbatical by meeting with the US ambassador to Armenia (Caucasus Watch reported). He also made public statements against the current Armenian government at the European People's Party (EPP) congress in Croatia (Caucasus Watch reported). His nephew Narek Sargsyan is also accused of illegal arms possession and drug trafficking and was extradited from the Czech Republic to Armenia on 10 December (Caucasus Watch reported).