YEREVAN. – Armenia’s present-day parliament is true to the tradition of its predecessors, but with one exception. Prior to removing an MP’s parliamentary immunity today, they do not beat him as they did before, opposition Heritage Party’s National Assembly Faction Secretary Ruben Hakobyan stated during a briefing at the Parliament on Friday.      

In his words, there is a certain pattern in all this. “The authorities strip the opposition MPs of immunity either before or after the presidential elections. [And] As a rule, solely the opposition deputies are stripped of their immunity,” Hakobyan said.  

He noted that it is apparent that the case involving The Civilitas Foundation founder, former FM, and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Vartan Oskanian is nothing but political. “If the law enforcement could wait for two years, why did it not wait for yet another five months and proceed with the case after the presidential elections [next February]? Our country’s standing suffers from all this,” Ruben Hakobyan noted, and added: “What happened is directed solely at Vartan Oskanian, and not the PAP. And everyone in the Parliament is a potential Vartan Oskanian.” 

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, the National Assembly on Tuesday voted—by 64 ballots for, six against, and with one invalid vote—in favor of Prosecutor General’s petition to include Vartan Oskanian as a defendant in a criminal lawsuit. A total of 71 MPs participated in the voting.

To note, 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. In his turn, Vartan Oskanian considers the charges to be politically motivated.

The Civilitas Foundation was founded in 2008 by Vartan Oskanian. After joining Prosperous Armenia Party ahead of the May 6 parliamentary elections, however, Oskanian gave up his post as the Foundation Chairman.

Photo by Sona Barseghyan