Will Criminal Proceedings be Initiated Against Seyran Ohanyan? The Chief Prosecutor Addresses the National Assembly

The Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Armenia, Anna Vardapetyan, presented three requests to the President of the National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, on January 20, regarding permission to initiate criminal proceedings against Seyran Ohanyan, leader of the "Armenia" faction and former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia. This was done in accordance with Article 108, Part 1, Clause 1 of the constitutional law on the "Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly."

According to the requirements of the same clause, a draft decision of the National Assembly regarding the permission to initiate criminal proceedings against the deputy was also attached to the requests.

Based on the factual information obtained during the first criminal proceedings, the former Minister of Defense is accused of misappropriation of particularly large sums (in two instances) by using his official position, as well as acting against the interests of service due to personal interests and group benefits, which resulted in grave consequences (in two instances).

The factual details obtained in the second criminal proceedings indicate that the former Minister of Defense, being a public official, used his official position against the interests of service for group benefits, failed to fulfill his official duties, leading to severe consequences, and also misappropriated property of particularly large value through wasteful methods.

According to the information obtained in the third criminal proceedings, the former Minister of Defense misappropriated property of particularly large value through wasteful methods.

According to Article 96 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, criminal proceedings against a deputy can only be initiated with the consent of the National Assembly. This information is provided by the Chief Prosecutor's Office.