YEREVAN. – During its closed session on Monday, Armenian capital city Yerevan’s Central and Nork Marash Administrative Regions’ General Jurisdiction Court denied the petition by attorney Tigran Atanesyan, who represents The Civilitas Foundation’s founder, former FM, and currently Prosperous Armenia Party MP Vartan Oskanian.

To note, Oskanian’s lawyer was appealing the investigator’s decision to open a criminal lawsuit by the National Security Service (NSS). And Oskanian is a witness in this case.     

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, on May 25 the NSS Department of Investigation launched a criminal lawsuit on charges of money laundering with respect to The Civilitas Foundation, and Vartan Oskanian is mentioned in this connection.   

And, in this regard, Oskanian had written the following in his Facebook account:

“It was apparent from the content of NSS’ statement issued that I am being questioned as a suspect and not as a witness along the lines of the criminal lawsuit that is launched. Considering this, I decided to use my constitutional right and not to testify.”

Also, he had stated that this is political persecution.