Ex-speaker of Armenian parliament charged with ‘usurping’ state authority

The law enforcement authorities have brought criminal charges against former parliament speaker Ara Babloyan as part of the criminal probe into the Hrayr Tovmasian’s appointment in March 2018 as chairman of Armenia’s Constitutional Court.

Speaking to Tert.am late on Monday, Babloyan’s lawyer, Aram Vardevanyan, said his client’s procedural status was revised “in violation of the laws”, particularly the constitutional immunity clause applying to former government officials.

The Special Investigative Service (SIS) instituted a criminal case against Babloyan last Tuesday (October 22) on suspicions of usurping the authority of the Constitutional Court (in the period of Gagik Harutyunyan’s resignation as its chairman). He was later summoned to interrogation.

“The criminal charges refer to two articles [of the Criminal Code], one dealing with usurpation of state authority, i.e. - Article 300, which has never been applied in Armenia or in international practice in general, and the second dealing with Article 314, i.e. – official fraud. We do not accept the charges in either case,” Vardevanyan told reporters.

He added that Babloyan was also required to submit a signature for not leaving the country in the period of the inquest.

Asked whether he sees a political pretext in the criminal proceeding, the defense attorney replied, “From the legal point of view, I see a very vulnerable and groundless accusation, but I can say that there are criminal cases which are dismissed shortly after being launched. [Cross-bencher] Arman Babajanyan had submitted a report which referred mainly to Article 95 of the Constitution – on terminating the authority of a parliament member. There was a clause in it, which said that Hrayr Tovmasyan continued officiating as a member of parliament. No charges were leveled in that connection, and there is a justification for that.”  

Vardevanyan also promised to take all the necessary actions on the part of the defense team to ensure adequate guarantees for due process.

Related news

• Former Armenian parliament speaker ‘summoned to interrogation’
• Ara Babloyan: All my actions stemmed from the Constitution and laws – 168.am