Parliament Council debates taking Tsarukyan suspension to top court

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Council of Armenia's National Assembly Council on November 24 debated the issue of submitting an application to the Constitutional Court on the termination of the powers of Prosperous Armenia leader, lawmaker and oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan.

According to a report from Hetq.am, the Council had called a meeting on November 16 but Tsarukyan had failed to show up. Under the National Assembly rules of procedure, the presence of the lawmaker in question is obligatory for the discussion of such an issue, which, however, can be debated without them at a second.

Tsarukyan was put in custody on September 25 for two months ahead of a trial on charges of vote-buying in 2017 parliamentary elections. The country's National Assembly stripped him of his immunity in June, allowing him to be arrested, after the National Security Service raided his home and interrogated him.

Three criminal cases have been launched against him and companies owned and run by him over illegal business activity, electoral bribery and land alienation. Tsarukyan's arrest was ordered by the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction over allegations of misconduct surrounding the 2017 elections, which preceded the peaceful revolution of spring 2018.

Tsarukyan was released on bail of AMD 100 million ($200,000). His party is among the 16 political forces demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.