The Response of the NSS Director on Ashot Pashinyan's Use of State Protection

The Director of the National Security Service (NSS) under the Prime Minister of Armenia, Sarkis Hovhannisyan, considers it impossible to clarify the principles and legal basis for the state protection of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's son, Ashot Pashinyan, if he refuses to utilize the NSS.

In response to a written inquiry from News.am, Hovhannisyan stated, "The information regarding the methods and forms of ensuring the security of individuals subject to special state protection is highly classified and classified as state secret."

It should be noted that according to Article 6.1, Item 3 of the law on the security of individuals subject to special state protection, state protection is also provided to family members living with or accompanying the Prime Minister during their term of office. According to Article 5, Item 5 of the same law, individuals subject to special state protection, with the exception of the President of Armenia, the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the National Assembly, and Prime Minister candidates, may temporarily refuse state protection by notifying the head of the service in writing.

News.am, referencing the aforementioned provision of the law, asked the NSS Director whether any family members of the President, the Speaker of the National Assembly, or the Prime Minister had approached the Service with a request to temporarily refuse state protection during their terms of office. In light of Ashot Pashinyan's movements in the capital without NSS personnel, as well as a recent controversial incident involving him, we also inquired how many times Ashot Pashinyan had informed the Service about his refusal of state protection during Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's tenure.

The information requested, according to Articles 8 and 12 of the Law on State and Official Secrets of Armenia, is included in the list of information subject to classification, which states that the methods and forms of ensuring the security of individuals under special state protection are highly confidential and classified as a state secret. Therefore, it is not possible to provide information on the presented question,” the response stated.

It is reminded that during the court hearing on June 5 regarding the incident involving Ashot Pashinyan, the Prime Minister's son stated that he does not utilize the NSS.