YEREVAN. – The Criminal Court of Appeal on Thursday is examining the appeals filed by the attorneys of opposition Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) leader, MP and business tycoon Gagik Tsarukyan, and by the prosecutor's office regarding the criminal case against him.

The prosecutor's office has appealed the first-instance court's decision to deny the motion to arrest Tsarukyan as a pretrial measure, asking the appellate court to overturn this decision and to have the PAP leader arrested.

Tsarukyan's legal defenders have filed two appeals, one of which concerns reasonable doubt. The defense considers that no evidence has been presented to the court that will substantiate Tsarukyan being involved in that criminal case.

The second appeal concerns the legality of the proceedings, which, according to the PAP leader’s lawyers, should have been initially investigated by the Special Investigation Service, and not by the National Security Service.

Gagik Tsarukyan will not appear in court, as he is infected with the coronavirus. One of his lawyers, Emin Khachatryan, told Armenian News-NEWS.am Wednesday that they were going to present to the court medical papers about Tsarukyan’s health so that the court would consider his absence acceptable.

Gagik Tsarukyan is charged with vote buying, but he does not accept the charge and says it is unlawful.