YEREVAN. – National Assembly’s (NA) Ethics Committee on Friday will examine the petition submitted against Prosperous Armenia Party MP Karo Karapetyan, Haykakan Zhamanak daily writes. 

“But it is not yet clear as to when the petition submitted against [ARF] Dashnaktsutyun [Party] MP Artsvik Minasyan and [ruling Republican Party] RPA-member [and NA Deputy Speaker] Eduard Sharmazanov will be examined.

The petition against them was submitted by [Armenia’s] PINK [gay and lesbian] NGO, and in connection with these two MPs’ statements made with respect to the blast at [capital city] Yerevan’s DIY Club [which is alleged to be a gay club].   

Artsvik Minasyan said [the following] concerning the petition submitted against him: ‘I believe the more we disregard such organizations, the better because such NGOs launch operations more toward increasing their own profits—especially from foreign organizations and persons—rather than toward creating real values.   

I can say one thing confidently, and that is either Sharmazanov or I have not only not violated any constitutional norm, but we also have directly behaved by the very same Constitution-envisioned approach of the MP’s [right to] openly express conscience, conviction, and personal view,’” Haykakan Zhamanak quotes the MP as saying.