YEREVAN. – Armenia’s opposition Heritage Party National Assembly (NA) Faction will boycott the voting of the petition concerning Vartan Oskanian, Faction Secretary Ruben Hakobyan announced from the NA podium.

To note, the NA commenced on Monday and continues on Tuesday its special hearing on Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan’s formal petition to include The Civilitas Foundation founder, former FM, and currently Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Vartan Oskanian as a defendant in a criminal lawsuit.  

Expressing astonishment that someone just thought about including this petition in the NA agenda, Hakobyan noted that the parliamentary majority’s statements, according to which by voting for this petition the NA will enable Oskanian to justify himself, is equivalent to political folklore.   

In Hakobyan’s view, even if the Prosecutor General is theoretically correct, how appropriate is it to raise this matter in the run-up to the forthcoming presidential elections? 

Commenting on PAP NA Faction’s request to support them and not to take part in the voting, Heritage’s NA Faction Secretary noted that they would not be compelled to do such a thing if, following the March 2008 tragedy, PAP had not voted in favor of removing the parliamentary mandates of four opposition MPs. 

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, on May 25 the National Security Service (NSS) Department of Investigation filed a criminal lawsuit on charges of money laundering with respect to The Civilitas Foundation.

The NSS Press Center had informed that an investigation is underway in connection with selling the 100-percent shares of the Huntsman Building Products Company for around $2 million, but not informing Armenia’s tax authorities about this business deal; not using for charitable purposes $1,135,000 of that amount envisioned for charity; transferring this amount to the bank accounts opened under the names of the Civilitas Foundation’s founder Vartan Oskanian,  and of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees member Tigran Karapetyan; and using some of this amount for private purposes.

In addition, as per the NSS Press Center, The Civilitas Foundation had not presented a report on the $2 million allocated for charitable purposes.