Criminal charges filed against Seyran Ohanyan

PanARMENIAN.Net - Seyran Ohanyan, head of the Armenia parliamentary faction, has been officially charged, he told reporters after being questioned at Armenia's Investigative Committee.

Earlier, it was reported that Ohanyan had been summoned as part of an ongoing criminal investigation.

"I’ve been charged, but I disagree with the details and reject the accusations. I exercised my right not to testify due to health issues. I was summoned here from a medical facility. Since charges must be filed within 18 hours, I complied," Ohanyan said, according to Sputnik Armenia.

He added that, due to his medical condition, authorities should have postponed the procedure, but according to him, they claimed he had no health issues.

"In the past one and a half months, from May 22 to June 1, I experienced a pre-stroke condition," Ohanyan stated.

A travel ban has been imposed on Seyran Ohanyan as a preventive measure.

On July 7, Armenia’s National Assembly approved a motion by Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan to strip Ohanyan of parliamentary immunity and allow criminal prosecution.

According to the case documents, Ohanyan is suspected under several articles of the Criminal Code, including abuse of official power, accepting bribes, money laundering, and concealing declarable information. The charges relate to his tenure as Minister of Defense from April 14, 2008, to September 9, 2016, during which he allegedly appropriated a protected area within the Sevan National Park between 2010 and 2015. The case involves a 10,526-square-meter plot and a mansion built on it.