Armenia: Prosecutor's Office asks Parliament to sanction MP's arrest

Today, Arthur Davtyan, the Public Prosecutor General of Armenia, has submitted a petition to the Parliament asking to give consent to the initiation of a criminal case against Aram Arutyunyan, an MP from the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), a source from the press service of the General Prosecutor's Office (GPO) told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Aram Arutyunyan is suspected of receiving a bribe of 14 million US dollars and the legalization of illegal incomes.

The issue is already on the agenda of the parliamentary session scheduled for December 4, Arsen Babayan, a deputy head of the Parliament's office, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent.

Nikol Pashinyan, the Acting Prime Minister of Armenia, has called on the MPs to come to the session and consider the GPO's petition.

Today, Armen Ashotyan, a candidate for an MP from the RPA, expressed criticism on his Facebook page of the GPO's initiative and Nikol Pashinyan.

"It seemed to Nikol Pashinyan that this was his 'joker' in the election campaign; and he would be able to take this card out, thereby disrupting the RPA's campaign," wrote Mr Ashotyan.

According to his version, Nikol Pashinyan spoke about this case a few months ago; and nothing prevented the current government from making a decision on it long before the campaign.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on December 3, 2018 at 01:31 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.