Man facing extradition to Armenia battle over 'non-consensual sex' allegation

A MAN is fighting extradition to Armenia after he was accused of having non consensual sex with a woman there.

Armenia has failed in a number of previous attempts to extradite citizens from the UK, but Aleksandr Sahakyan, 37, is the latest person to face extradition there from this country after being accused of the offence in an international arrest warrant.

There is no implication of guilt from such an arrest and it is understood that Mr Sahakyan is confident of clearing his name.

The 37-year-old, who vehemently denies the allegations, is living under an electronically-monitored curfew between 3am and 6am at his Abingdon home as a result of his arrest under the warrant earlier this year.

The latest extradition request to Britain from Armenia was for Hrayr Gyonjyan, 51, who is accused there of swindling money from EU grants.

In June 2024 District Judge John McGarva, sitting at Westminster Magistrates' Court, discharged the extradition request saying it was out of time and would breach his human rights in respect of torture, and inhuman or degrading treatment.

In December 2022, the High Court discharged Vasile Stanciu from an extradition request from Armenia, to face charges of theft, attempted theft and the manufacture and sale of forged payment documents, due to fears of inter-prisoner violence and that his extradition represented a real risk of detention in inhuman or degrading prison conditions, contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

In March the same year, Deputy Senior District Judge Tan Ikram discharged the extradition of a bisexual man to Armenia on the basis that if extradited there was a risk of a breach of his human rights as there was a real risk he would be subject to inhuman or degrading treatment in prison because of his sexual orientation.

Mr Sahakyan,ca senior scientific researcher in Machine Learning Prediction of Epigenetics at Oxford University, is alleged to have committed the offence in Armenia’s capital Yerevan in April 2022, according to the international arrest warrant.

He was arrested in February and brought before Westminster Magistrates' Court, which handles extradition requests.

He now faces fighting against extradition to Armenia at a full hearing next month.

If extradited, he could face investigation by local police over the alleged offence, which he says is malicious due to legal proceedings in Armenia.

Mr Sahakyan has been awarded legal aid by a District Judge to fund an advocate to represent him due to deep "legal complexities" around the case.

He joined the University of Oxford in 2017.

The international arrest warrant alleges that on April 15 2022 "between the hours of 1:30 and 2am" he had sex with a woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, without her consent, contrary to Section 1 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.

He was brought before the court for a first hearing on February 20 when he did not consent to be extradited and was remanded into custody.

He was released on conditional bail a week later after a security of £5,000 was paid to the court.

Under conditional bail conditions he must also not enter any international travel hubs or apply for or be in possession of any international travel documents.

Mr Sahakyan said that his battle against extradition will centre on there being no prima facie case against him amid claims the allegations he faces are malicious and false and stem from a legal case he has been involved with in Armenia.

He said: "That appalling false accusation came as a silver bullet strategy amid many ongoing lawsuits against the accusing side, where we were slowly progressing towards justice in Armenia. I can only hope that Armenia’s police and judicial systems will prove that they are capable of learning and closing their mistakes. And I hope the UK public will not rush into conclusions, as the complete picture cannot be disclosed."