YEREVAN. – When presenting the case involving The Civilitas Foundation founder, former FM, and Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Vartan Oskanian, the PAP National Assembly (NA) Faction members will use a model which will harm Armenia’s international rating, Ruling Republican Party’s NA Faction leader Galust Sahakyan said, during a briefing at the Parliament on Friday, responding to the query on the impact that the PAP representative’s statement in PACE—and on the Oskanian case—will have on Armenia’s standing.     

In Sahakyan’s words, the PAP MPs could have presented this case at the NA, but they failed and Oskanian himself bore the main burden.  

“And where they will say what is a legal issue, and I believe this matter will be proved for our people in the juridical plane. At one time the Armenians used to go to Ctesiphon—the imperial capital of the Arsacid Parthians and of the Sassanid Persians—to betray their kings, [and] that’s why they destroyed the country,” Galust Sahakyan remarked.      

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.