Armenia Parliament set to strip lawmaker Gagik Tsarukyan of immunity

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Prosecutor General of Armenia will go to the National Assembly on Tuesday, June 16 with the motion to strip lawmaker Gagik Tsarukyan of his parliamentary immunity, opening him to prosecution on several charges, lawmaker Naira Zohrabyan said in a Facebook post.

Security service officers conducted a search at his residence on Sunday for four hours. The man who is considered the wealthiest person in Armenia was then questioned for nine hours, with four criminal cases launched towards the end of the day.

According to the Security Service, a casino belonging to Tsarukyan has caused AMD 30 billion ($62 million) in damages to the state, while his party, Prosperous Armenia, handed out hundreds of millions of drams in election bribes in 2017.

Tsarukyan described the search of his house and the criminal cases initiated by the NSS as "blackmail and political persecution".

88 out of Armenia’s 132 lawmakers represent the My Step alliance whose leader is the Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan.