Armenian lawmaker caught in the middle of electoral fraud scandal (video) April 14, 2017 - 13:31 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - A number of media outlets on Thursday, April 13 published an audio recording, in which the moderator of a meeting of SAS Group employees pressed the latter into "persuading family and friends" to vote for Artak Sargsyan. Sargsyan is the owner and director of SAS Group and a lawmaker from the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) who was re-elected to the parliament on April 2. In the audio material, recorded prior to the parliamentary elections, the speaker promises bonuses to “those bringing a lot of votes,” and even threatens to dismiss employees who fail to do so. PanARMENIAN.Net contacted SAS Group for comments, but an employee who seemed to be from the human resources department, said she has no idea what video we are talking about. Also, PanARMENIAN.Net found out that the prosecutor’s office is studying the case. Head of RPA faction Vahram Baghdasaryan, in turn, refused to comment, adding that the matter needs thorough investigation. He said Sargsyan may have been unaware of the meeting altogether. “Many of our media outlets might have employed some tricks,” he added. Top stories David Vardanyan is the son of former Karabakh leader Ruben Vardanyan who who is currently imprisoned in Azerbaijan. The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Partner news | Ucom General Director gives lecture at French University in Armenia The General Director of Ucom Ralph Yirikian delivered a lecture at the French University of Armenia. Kazakhstan welcomes Yerevan, Baku’s agreement to meet in Almaty Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has welcomed the agreement of Baku and Yerevan to hold negotiations in Almaty. Armenia offers to temporarily host, preserve Gaza manuscripts The Armenian Foreign Minister has said Yerevan is ready to help preserve manuscripts from the conflict zone in Gaza. Aliyev says no need for mediators in Armenia-Azerbaijan process Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev believes that Baku and Yerevan do not mediators in the process of normalizing relations. |