The Prosecutor General of Armenia, Anna Vardapetyan, on Monday submitted a petition to the speaker of the National Assembly (NA), Alen Simonyan, with a request for a parliamentary consent to launch a public criminal prosecution against NA opposition MP Mher Sahakyan, the Prosecutor General's Office informs Armenian News-NEWS.am.

According to the facts obtained in the respective criminal proceedings, Simonyan had opposed Vladimir Vardanyan, chair of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs, during a closed working discussion that had started on March 31 in a NA discussion hall, and showed aggressive behavior. In particular, Simonyan hit the table with his hand, stood up, shouted a remark to the chairman of the aforesaid committee, and punched Vardanyan’s temple. As a result, Vardanyan was slightly injured.

The criminal investigation into this incident has obtained facts that provide a basis for launching a public criminal prosecution against opposition MP Mher Sahakyan—and under the Criminal Code articles on hooliganism, and causing minor health injury due to hooliganism.

Under the constitution of Armenia, criminal prosecution of an MP can only be launched with the consent of the NA.