Prosperous Armenia Party MP Shake Isayan said that there is a political persecution against the party and its leader.

Her remarks came Monday at the parliament.

The party's leader Gagik Tsarukyan was charged with obstructing the will of voters through electoral fraud, but doesn’t accept the charge and views the case against him as unlawful.

The National Security Service (NSS) informed that according to the evidence obtained during the investigation of the criminal case in connection with bribing voters and taking bribes during the 2017 parliament elections, a decision was made to include Gagik Tsarukyan as an accused under the Criminal Code. 

According to the NSS statement, the body conducting these proceedings had filed a motion with the Yerevan Court of First Instance to rule for the arrest of Gagik Tsarukyan as a pretrial measure, but the court denied this motion.

At the same time, as per the NSS statement, the court of first instance found that during the respective criminal proceedings, Gagik Tsarukyan's improper conduct could be prevented by the use of another pretrial measure unrelated to arresting him.

According to the statement, taking into account the public interest in fully solving the aforesaid crimes, the NSS also expects to receive public assistance, and therefore it urges Armenian citizens to immediately notify the body conducting the proceedings if they have any information about this case.

The Prosecutor's Office will appeal the aforesaid decision by the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction of to the Criminal Court of Appeal.