Ararat Mirzoyan: Law Enforcement Were Aware of Actions by Hrayr Tovmasyan's Associate Months Ago

The President of the National Assembly of Armenia, Ararat Mirzoyan, made a post on his Facebook page, responding to the announcement regarding the arrest of a member of the National Assembly staff today.

“The Investigative Committee of Armenia has announced today that the head of the Procurement Department of the Administrative-Economic Directorate of the National Assembly has been arrested. He has been working in the National Assembly since 2014 and, according to circulating media reports, is an associate of the National Assembly's Chief Hrayr Tovmasyan at that time.

Taking into account that a draft decision regarding the termination of H. Tovmasyan's powers is being circulated in the National Assembly for an appeal to the Constitutional Court, I want to preemptively counter all possible political speculations and attempts to interpret various violations with political motives. Concerns regarding the weight and composition of the medals in the National Assembly staff have emerged, and law enforcement were informed about this several months ago.

I would also like to remind that as a result of investigative actions, it has been established that in 2015-2016, the National Assembly staff procured 278 ‘Honorary Medals of the National Assembly of Armenia’ and 75 ‘Commemorative Medals of the President of the National Assembly’ at a price ranging from 32,000 to 40,000 drams, with a total value of 12.3 million drams. According to the technical specifications, these medals should have been made of silver coated with gold; however, they are made from a copper-zinc alloy and are valued at 3,700 to 4,200 drams.

Furthermore, I would like to add that investigative bodies are conducting actions to determine the extent to which 935 souvenir reliefs, procured between 2015-2017 for 15,000 to 72,000 drams, with a total value of 24.3 million drams, conform to the technical specifications,” he wrote.