There is an attempt to vacate the chair of the Constitutional Court President and appoint the person whom the authorities want to see there, Armenian Public Council chair Vazgen Manukyan told reporters on Wednesday.

“When you come to power, you should understand that there is an independent press, to which you do not have access, and you cannot subordinate the CC as one of these restrictions is an independent court,” he said.

According to him, the Constitutional Court was formally independent, but, since it was very closely connected with the executive branch, it was also somehow influenced by the executive branch.

“Now an unprecedented situation has arisen when the chair of the Constitutional Court is a person who is independent, obeys the laws. No one has been subjected to an ‘X-ray’ scan like he (CC chair - ed.). But they have not found anything. So this person is not corrupt, he is clean. Now he is trying to maintain the independence of the Constitutional Court,” he said.

As reported earlier, on October 17, the Armenian Special Investigation Service announced that Armenian MP Arman Babajanyan sent a statement to the Prosecutor General in connection with the crime committed by a group of individuals to usurp state power. Based on the materials prepared by the Special Investigation Service, a decision was made to institute criminal proceedings. On the same day, NSS officers visited house of Hrayr Tovmasyan’s to find out how he repaired the roof of the house. On October 18, the father and two daughters of Hrayr Tovmasyan were invited to the NSS.

Later, the Armenian IC stated that it had data on abuse of official position by Hrayr Tovmasyan during his tenure as Justice Minister. The SIS accepted a criminal case involving Tovmasyan.