The Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia has rejected termination of criminal prosecution against former chairman of the National Assembly Ara Babloyan. This is what Ara Babloyan’s attorney Aram Vardevanyan told Armenian News-NEWS.am. Ara Babloyan is charged with usurpation of power.

Vardevanyan said he had submitted to the Prosecutor General’s Office an extensive appeal comprising 20 questions, but there was no substantiated argument in the responses.

According to the attorney, Ara Babloyan was against filing an appeal to the Prosecutor General’s Office. Vardevanyan also recalled that Speaker of the National Assembly Ararat Mirzoyan yesterday asked the Secretariat of the National Assembly a question regarding a particular article of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly. “The parliamentary speaker addressed the head of the Secretariat, Mr. Soghomonyan and asked about the particular article of the National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure. Mr. Soghomonyan has been the head of the Secretariat for years. The Secretariat also formulates the questions regarding interpretation of laws. The parliamentary speaker isn’t obliged to know the issues regarding the National Assembly’s Rules of Procedure, much less the disputed issues, and this was the same case for Ara Babloyan since the Secretariat prepares the documents,” he said.

The attorney also mentioned that he had addressed the Prosecutor General’s Office with the request to terminate criminal prosecution on the ground of functional immunity, yet the question regarding application of the Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly has also remained unanswered.