Prosperous Armenia Party lawmakers block street in Yerevan protesting against detention of their leader Gagik Tsarukyan
14.06.2020,
15:17
MPs from the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) have blocked a downtown street in the capital city Yerevan near the building of the National Security Service, where their leader Gagik Tsarukyan is being now questioned.
YEREVAN, June 14. /ARKA/. MPs from the Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) have blocked a downtown street in the capital city Yerevan near the building of the National Security Service, where their leader Gagik Tsarukyan is being now questioned.
An MP Shakeh Isayan said they will be blocking the street until Gagik Tsarukyan leaves the National Security Service.
The opposition party accused the authorities of political persecution today as a large group of National Security Service officers raided today morning and searched Tsarukyan's home in the village of Arinj, north of Yerevan.
A Prosperous Armenia MP Naira Zohrabyan said searches had been conducted also in homes of some of other MPs from the party, its numerous supporters and party members.
Earlier this week the Prosperous Armenia Party accused the authorities of launching a smear campaign against its leader Gagik Tsarukyan after he called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet to step down because of failing to stop the spread of coronavirus and mitigate its social and economic consequences.
Mane Gevorgyan, a spokeswoman for the prime minister, retaliated by saying that Tsarukyan attacked the government because of fears of being prosecuted on corruption, tax evasion and other grave charges.
“To the best of my knowledge, the authorities are circulating a financial document involving a BHK candidate named Vazgen who ran for the 2017 parliamentary elections. All this leaves an impression of deja vu,” Naira Zohrabyan told reporters.
She accused the authorities of extreme intolerance of dissent, using the same handwriting as used the previous government in 2015.
The secretary of the Prosperous Armenia party's parliamentary faction Arman Abovyan pointed out the obvious political subtext of what is happening.
"There can be no two opinions here. And this is a consequence of the concern voiced by us," Abovyan emphasized, saying that no one could silence them by any means.
Zohrabyan added that police methods of pressure and repression are being applied to the political party just because of the concerns expressed by Tsarukyan that the authorities were not able to solve the problems that the country faces.
According to her, international organizations and Armenia-based foreign embassies were informed about the search and the Prosperous Armenia party is waiting for the reaction of international human rights organizations.
In a statement issued later today the National Security Service said a group of Prosperous Armenia Party senior members handed out hundreds of millions of drams as vote bribes during the 2017 parliamentary election campaign.
According to NSS, during the preliminary investigation, about four dozen searches were carried out, and documents containing computer records or detailed handwritten documents related to the election bribes were confiscated.
Prosperous Armenia finished second in the December 2018 parliamentary elections and won 26 seats in Armenia’s 132-member parliament. -0-
An MP Shakeh Isayan said they will be blocking the street until Gagik Tsarukyan leaves the National Security Service.
The opposition party accused the authorities of political persecution today as a large group of National Security Service officers raided today morning and searched Tsarukyan's home in the village of Arinj, north of Yerevan.
A Prosperous Armenia MP Naira Zohrabyan said searches had been conducted also in homes of some of other MPs from the party, its numerous supporters and party members.
Earlier this week the Prosperous Armenia Party accused the authorities of launching a smear campaign against its leader Gagik Tsarukyan after he called on Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his cabinet to step down because of failing to stop the spread of coronavirus and mitigate its social and economic consequences.
Mane Gevorgyan, a spokeswoman for the prime minister, retaliated by saying that Tsarukyan attacked the government because of fears of being prosecuted on corruption, tax evasion and other grave charges.
“To the best of my knowledge, the authorities are circulating a financial document involving a BHK candidate named Vazgen who ran for the 2017 parliamentary elections. All this leaves an impression of deja vu,” Naira Zohrabyan told reporters.
She accused the authorities of extreme intolerance of dissent, using the same handwriting as used the previous government in 2015.
The secretary of the Prosperous Armenia party's parliamentary faction Arman Abovyan pointed out the obvious political subtext of what is happening.
"There can be no two opinions here. And this is a consequence of the concern voiced by us," Abovyan emphasized, saying that no one could silence them by any means.
Zohrabyan added that police methods of pressure and repression are being applied to the political party just because of the concerns expressed by Tsarukyan that the authorities were not able to solve the problems that the country faces.
According to her, international organizations and Armenia-based foreign embassies were informed about the search and the Prosperous Armenia party is waiting for the reaction of international human rights organizations.
In a statement issued later today the National Security Service said a group of Prosperous Armenia Party senior members handed out hundreds of millions of drams as vote bribes during the 2017 parliamentary election campaign.
According to NSS, during the preliminary investigation, about four dozen searches were carried out, and documents containing computer records or detailed handwritten documents related to the election bribes were confiscated.
Prosperous Armenia finished second in the December 2018 parliamentary elections and won 26 seats in Armenia’s 132-member parliament. -0-
