YEREVAN. – The Civilitas Foundation’s founder, former FM, and currently Prosperous Armenia Party MP Vartan Oskanian petitioned to the Court of Appeals with respect to capital city Yerevan Central and Nork Marash Administrative Regions’ General Jurisdiction Court’s July 23 denial of his petition submitted by his attorney, Tigran Atanesyan.

To note, with this petition 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.

“The Court notes that Vardan Oskanian’s rights were not violated, which is an unreasoned conclusion. At the same time, the Court did not reflect on and respond to the arguments of our appeal,” Atanesyan commented. 

Separately, The Civilitas Foundation’s Executive Director Salpi Ghazarian forwarded a letter to State Revenue Committee Chairman Gagik Khachatryan, and enquired the reasons for suspending the inspections toward the accuracy of Civilitas’ interrelations with the state budget. To note, these inspections were suspended on July 23, and for thirty work days.          

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.