YEREVAN. – Armenia’s The Civilitas Foundation employees will start a march, on Friday at 12:30pm and from The Civilitas office to the Prosecutor General’s Office, to submit a letter of petition and the results of a signature campaign demanding an end to the political persecutions against Civilitas and its founder, former FM, and Prosperous Armenia Party MP Vartan Oskanian.        

More than 13,000 people from 65 countries, including dozens of cities and villages of Armenia, joined The Civilitas staff member’s signature campaign that was held from October 7 to Wednesday. The signature campaign has ended, the foundation’s press service informs.  

As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, the National Security Service (NSS) Department of Investigation brought formal charges against Vartan Oskanian.

To note, on October 2 the National Assembly voted in favor of Prosecutor General’s petition to include Vartan Oskanian as a defendant in a criminal lawsuit.

On May 25 NSS Department of Investigation had 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, and 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.