Tsarukyan demands proof over espionage allegations

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prosperous Armenia Party leader Gagik Tsarukyan has responded to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements in which he described Tsarukyan as a foreign agent and accused Andranik Tevanyan, the second candidate on the party’s electoral list, of betraying the homeland.

“Our number two candidate is a very decent, patriotic, educated and devoted person. I can say publicly: if they prove it, I will personally shoot my colleague immediately. If not, those making false statements must be held accountable for publicly accusing someone of espionage without basis,” Tsarukyan said, according to Radar Armenia.

Commenting on the accusation that he is a foreign agent, Tsarukyan stated: “Let them take me and shoot me publicly if there is proof. If not, I demand accountability. The person making such statements must be punished. I won’t say we should shoot him. Let him come, enter the cage with my lions and come back out.”

During a rally in Vanadzor on May 20, Pashinyan said the National Security Service would submit a report on a crime to the Investigative Committee seeking the initiation of criminal proceedings against Andranik Tevanyan under an article related to treason. In a Facebook livestream, Tevanyan responded to Pashinyan by saying that “this lawlessness will get stuck in his throat.”