Abuse-of-power charges brought against top Armenian officialApril 19, 2019 - 12:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of Armenia’s State Supervision Service Davit Sanasaryan has been charged with abusing power for the benefit of personal or group interests. According to the National Security Service, the charges were brought as part of a criminal case investigating interference in the process of purchasing hemodialysis equipment for the country’s hospitals. The NSS said the employees of the State Supervision Service have intervened in the process for the benefit of a company they favored. Part 1 of Article 308 of the Armenian Criminal Code imposes punishment - a fine, detention or incarceration - for causing considerable damage to serve one’s own personal or group interests. Sanasaryan himself described the charges as “fabricated,” maintaining that “it would make a lot more sense to suspect me of assassinating [the 35th President of the United States John F.] Kennedy than of having anything to do with corruption.” 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 | 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. U.S. believes peace is “possible” in South Caucasus The United States continues to believe that peace is possible in the South Caucasus, Vedant Patel said. |