We will do everything we can to break the stereotypes about the probe committees and have a report that will be highly reliable. This is what secretary of the opposition “Armenia” Faction of the National Assembly of Armenia, chairman of the probe committee Artsvik Minasyan told reporters today, touching upon the upcoming sessions of the parliamentary probe committee set up to explore the transfer of funds donated to Hayastan All-Armenian Fund [during the 44-day war in Nagorno-Karabakh] to the government.

“The fact that the incumbent authorities torpedoed the creation of the committee and presented their candidates only after the opposition’s response, goes to show that the opposition had a certain impact. I’m certain that most of the questions will be answered, regardless of political views. People must receive answers. It’s not clear why the funds of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund were transferred to the state budget,” Minasyan stated.

According to him, there will be a legal consequence for the fact that members of the Board of Trustees of Hayastan All-Armenian Fund, including former Presidents of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and Serzh Sargsyan and others were not notified about all this.

“The committee will address questions to not only the representatives of the Fund, but also the President and Prime Minister of Armenia. By regulations enshrined by law, all the responsible persons are obliged to answer the probe committee’s questions. Our faction has put into circulation a bill according to which the committee will consider lies and the provision of false information a crime. This will allow the committee to play a bigger role,” he added.

Minasyan said the committee will seek to find the answers to all the questions within a six-month period, and if attempts are made to create obstacles, this will serve as a ground to demand extension of the periods.

“I don’t rule out the fact that one of the obstacles may be the attempt to institute a criminal case regarding a particular issue, and this will mean the committee can’t continue to hold sessions. If we fail to receive the answers to the questions, it will mean that the committee failed to serve its main goals,” Minasyan added.