Armenian opposition MPs released after Constitutional Court ruling

JAMnews

Yerevan

In Armenia, three opposition National Assembly MPs (Hayastan bloc (Armenia)) were released from arrest. The day before, the Constitutional Court declared their detention illegal, since a deputy cannot be arrested without the consent of parliament. The decision of the Constitutional Court was made on the basis of an appeal by a deputy from the same political force, lawyer Aram Vardevanyan.

According to the Constitutional Court ruling, an imprisoned person cannot remain under arrest from the moment they receive the deputy status.

This specific wording is given due to the fact that all three of the MPs were arrested before acquiring mandates in parliament.

According to the Armenian constitution, criminal prosecution against a deputy can only be initiated with the consent of the parliament. An exception can be made if a deputy is caught at the time of the commission of the crime or immediately after.

Immediately after the decision of the Constitutional Court, the lawyer of Armen Charchyan, one of the arrested deputies, appealed to the court for an extraordinary meeting to change the measure of restraint. `On December 10, the deputy was released from arrest in the courtroom on the condition f restricted residence. An hour later, two other deputies, Mkhitar Zakaryan and Artur Sargsyan, were released from prison without a court hearing.

All three represent the Hayastan opposition faction, the second largest after the ruling majority. The leader of the bloc is ex-president Robert Kocharian, who refused the mandate. In parliament, this faction in the parliament is headed by the former defense minister Seyran Ohanyan.

Opposition: “All charges are politically motivated”

From the very beginning, the opposition claimed that the criminal cases against the representatives of the bloc were “political persecution”. The charges were brought against them during the early parliamentary elections on June 20, 2021. At this time, the bloc was actively campaigning and harshly criticized the ruling party and its leader, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The opposition argued that the arrest of all three MPs was a violation of the law, since none of them was deprived of parliamentary immunity. The authorities responded that the criminal cases were opened before they became MPs – with the consent of the Central Election Commission. Accordingly, “there was no need to obtain parliamentary consent on this issue”, the prosecutor’s office said.

Charchyan: “Justice has prevailed”

Armen Charchyan, a well-known surgeon, former director of the Izmirlian medical center, was arrested on June 18, after a recording leaked on social media, in which he can be heard urging his employees to participate in the upcoming elections and says that he could find out who they would vote for.

A few days later, the Central Election Commission allowed a criminal prosecution against him, and the professor was arrested. He spent a month in prison, after which he was released on July 21 on bail of 15 million drams [about $ 30,000].

However, on August 23, the Court of Appeal upheld the complaint of the prosecutor’s office against the court decision to release Armen Charchyan on bail. He was arrested again.

On December 10, after the court’s decision on his release, the opposition deputy, when asked by journalists about his upcoming plans, replied that he intends, first of all, to improve his health. While in prison, he suffered a second heart attack, and he also suffers from a severe form of diabetes, which, as his lawyers have repeatedly stated, is incompatible with prison conditions.

“Justice has prevailed thanks to my lawyers. Today is a really good day for me”, Armen Charchyan told reporters.

Sargsyan: “The Constitutional Court proved that it does not follow political orders”

These are the words of another opposition deputy, former mayor of the city of Sisian Artur Sargsyan, immediately after his release from arrest.

“The question is not about me being released: the term of arrest would have ended in 10 days. But for the sake of justice, I must say that there is one instance that does not fulfill orders”, he added.

Artur Sargsyan is accused of abuse of office and embezzlement of state funds, committed several years ago. He was arrested on July 16, and on October 14, the court decided to release him on bail. On November 15, the court granted the prosecution’s appeal – and the deputy was arrested again.

However, the deputy considers the accusation groundless and fabricated. Explaining the situation, he told reporters that the one who testified against him received a promotion – in the administration of the city of Sisian. Sargsyan is sure that this was a “deal” with the authorities.

He does not exclude the possibility that now he can be deprived of his parliamentary immunity and arrested again. However, the oppositionist declares that he is ready for this and will prove the groundlessness of the accusation.

Zakaryan: “Prison is not a sanatorium, but I have been in the trenches too”

As Mkhitar Zakaryan told reporters after his release, his release from prison on his birthday was a surprise to him.

During his arrest, he underwent surgery, and journalists inquired about his state of health. The deputy refused to talk about health problems, only said that he now had a second operation. He stated that there are more important issues than his arrest and state of health, since Armenia is in a very difficult situation.

In his opinion, now it is necessary o think about strengthening the state and strengthening the army.

“You need to think about the future and work. The prison is not a sanatorium, but I have been in the trenches too”, said Zakaryan, who until recently, headed the administration of the city of Meghri in the border region of Syunik.

Together with Artur Sargsyan and the leaders of other communities in Syunik, he organized the protection of the population during the second Karabakh war and after it, when the situation on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border became aggravated.

Mkhitar Zakaryan was arrested on July 13. The report of the Investigative Committee said that as a result of the actions of the Mayor of Meghri, a part of the territory belonging to the community was alienated, the state was deprived of the opportunity to use the site indicated on the general plan as a nature reserve for its intended purpose”.