Searches conducted at Saghatelyan’s home, vehicles

PanARMENIAN.Net - Law enforcement officers entered the apartment of Ishkhan Saghatelyan, representative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Bureau and a member of the National Assembly’s Hayastan faction, at around 8:30 a.m. on June 23 and conducted searches of his residence and vehicles. The information was reported by Hayastan faction MP Gegham Manukyan, according to Sputnik Armenia.

The information was also confirmed by Armenia’s Investigative Committee, 1lurer.am reported.

“Investigative and procedural actions are being carried out within the framework of criminal proceedings,” the Investigative Committee stated.

Later, attorney Sergey Harutyunyan said the search had been completed and that nothing had been found.

According to the lawyer, the criminal proceedings initiated against Saghatelyan concern assets declared in his financial disclosures, Sputnik Armenia reported.

“The matter concerns a case being investigated by the Anti-Corruption Committee, which was launched based on declared cash funds and jewelry. Saghatelyan was asked to present the cash in question, to which he responded that it had been entrusted to another individual for safekeeping. He confirmed that he would provide it and only needed a little time, but apparently that time was not granted. It is unclear why such urgency was required, especially when in many other cases the Enforcement Service has demonstrated inactivity,” Harutyunyan said.

The lawyer described the operation as a “show.” He noted that a large number of police officers had surrounded the building during the search, although, in his view, two or three officers would have been sufficient to ensure the technical aspects of the operation.

Commenting on the fact that Saghatelyan currently has no procedural status in the case, Harutyunyan said this could not yet occur because two separate procedures would first have to be completed. In one case, Saghatelyan would need to be stripped of parliamentary immunity, and in the other, of immunity granted as a parliamentary candidate.

Only after those procedures are completed, according to the lawyer, could Saghatelyan receive an official status within the case and potentially be subjected to preventive measures.

Harutyunyan also stressed that the Enforcement Service has increasingly been involved in various processes and said this was not the first such case. He cited what he described as a similar precedent during the campaign directed against the Armenian Apostolic Church.

The lawyer argued that political elements were present in the case and claimed that even unexpected actions by the law enforcement system could occur under the current circumstances.