YEREVAN. – I’ve said that even my family members and everyone are equal before the law; everything is clear here. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Friday said this speaking with reporters.

Asked whether any official or an ordinary citizen may be “framed’ in new Armenia, the PM responded with a question of his own to the reporters: “You cover Armenia’s life, you answer that question. Is it possible, or not? [But] I want to stress that the presumption of innocence of no one should be violated.” 

And to the remark that he had said that some people in Armenia are guided by the “brotherly” mentality and when asked whom he means and what he wanted to say by that, Pashinyan responded as follows: “With that I wanted to say that our attitude toward a situation should not be according to what relationship we have with whom. Our attitude should be according to what relationship it has with reality, with truth, and with lawfulness.”

Within the framework of a criminal case filed on a corruption-related act, a charge has been brought against Davit Sanasaryan, head of the State Oversight Service—and whose respective powers have been suspended. Sanasaryan, however, stated that this case is concocted, while his attorneys noted that he was being “framed” with the old methods.