The Central Electoral Commission (CEC) of Armenia, after the summing up of the results of the regular elections to the National Assembly on June 7, had received petitions from the Prosecutor General's Office to grant consent to initiate criminal prosecution against several MP candidates, and in some cases, to have them detained, the CEC noted.

The CEC had not considered these petitions due to the workload of appealing the election results in the Constitutional Court (CC).

But at its regular session on Wednesday, the CEC decided to return these petitions to the Prosecutor General's Office.

In particular, the CEC decided to return the petition to request criminal prosecution against opposition Prosperous Armenia Party chairman—and business tycoon—Gagik Tsarukyan. This petition was received from the head of the department for crimes against state authority of the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia on June 23, requesting consent to initiate public prosecution against Gagik Tsarukyan.

It was noted that the rights and obligations of MP candidates established by the Electoral Code of Armenia apply to the MP candidate until the expiration of the period established for challenging the CEC's decision on election to the National Assembly, and in case of challenging that decision—until the adoption of a decision by the CC. In view of that, the rights and obligations established by the Electoral Code apply to the MP candidate until July 4.

So, it is beyond the scope of the CEC's jurisdiction to give consent to the initiation of criminal prosecution against or detaining a person who does not have the status of an MP candidate, the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia concluded.