At today's session, the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of the Republic of Armenia did not reject the motion submitted by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia to obtain consent to deprive of liberty Narek Karapetyan, a member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia elected from the electoral list of the "Strong Armenia" alliance of parties. This was written by CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan.

"Given the importance the Central Electoral Commission places on its commitment to providing the public with proper and comprehensive information, I consider it necessary to clarify the following:

At today's session, the Central Electoral Commission of the Republic of Armenia did not reject the motion submitted by the Prosecutor General's Office of the Republic of Armenia to obtain consent to deprive of liberty Narek Karapetyan, a member of the National Assembly elected from the electoral list of the 'Strong Armenia' alliance of parties. The Central Electoral Commission decided to return the relevant motion.

The Central Electoral Commission was guided by the Constitutional Court's Decision SDO-1619 of December 7, 2021, in which the Constitutional Court expressed the following legal position: '(...) c) A person who does not hold the status of a member of parliament while deprived of liberty cannot be held in detention from the moment they acquire the status of a member of parliament, except in cases provided for by Part 2 of Article 96 of the Constitution. From the moment a person acquires the status of a member of parliament, they cannot be deprived of liberty in any other way than with the consent of the National Assembly, except in cases provided for by Part 2 of Article 96 of the Constitution (...).'

Accordingly, the Central Electoral Commission, in its decision, recorded that the discussion of the motion to obtain consent to deprive National Assembly member Narek Karapetyan of liberty falls outside the scope of its powers."