YEREVAN. – The grounds for the arrest of National Assembly (NA) former chief of staff Arsen Babayan are shaky. Gevorg Petrosyan, a member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia faction at the NA, on Tuesday told this to reporters in parliament.

“Several well-known lawyers have argued that Arsen Babayan could not have been arrested pursuant to Article 314 (1), as the law on addendum that was adopted last year was applicable to this article,” he said. “In this respect, the foundations are already very weak.”

Earlier, the Special Investigation Service released a statement, reporting about the arrest of former deputy head of Armenian parliament staff Arsen Babayan for wrongdoing under the Criminal Code Article 314 (1)—on official falsification.

It is about committing official fraud in the process of resignation by former Constitutional Court President Gagik Harutyunyan.

The act allegedly committed by Babayan was carried out during Harutyunyan’s resignation process while Harutyunyan resigned in March 2018. Given that amnesty applies to acts committed by October 21, 2018, including the same law—and including official falsification, it turns out that Arsen Babayan was arrested on suspicion of an alleged act on which amnesty is applicable.