YEREVAN. - Ani Samsonyan, a member of the opposition Bright Armenia parliamentary faction, believes that Vahagn Hovakimyan, an MP from the ruling My Step bloc, should apologize to Gianni Buquicchio, President of the Venice Commission, for announcing that in 2009, Buquicchio had received an expensive gift from then President Serzh Sargsyan.

"If you said this without realizing that you have accused the European official of corruption because receiving a very expensive gift from an official is one of the classic types of corruption, then it is a ‘disaster’ for you. If you knew that this was one of the classic types of corruption and you deliberately blamed the official of corruption, then I believe that's slander; you have to apologize to Gianni Buquicchio for that," Samsonyan said from the National Assembly podium Wednesday, noting that the fact that Hovakimyan claims that his words have been distorted is manipulation.

According to Ani Samsonyan, Vahagn Hovakimyan's aforementioned statement has negatively impacted Armenia's standing because if such a criminal case was not initiated on the fact of such a gift, then Hovakimyan slandered the official. "Since we are confident that you will remain so, we will do everything possible that you no longer be a public official because you, as an official, are risky to a country of law," she added.