Opposition leader Gagik Tsarukyan jailed on suspicion of vote buying

YEREVAN, SEPTEMBER 25, ARMENPRESS. Member of Parliament Gagik Tsarukyan has been placed under arrest and taken into custody after a Yerevan court approved the National Security Service’s motion on remanding him in pre-trial detention on charges of vote buying.

Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdictionset a two-months customary pre-trial detention period for Tsarukyan. He was taken into custody by the NSS.

Tsarukyan, the leader of the opposition Prosperous Armenia party and a Member of Parliament, is charged with vote buying which allegedly took place during the 2017 general election. Tsarukyan and his party deny the accusations.

He was stripped off parliamentary immunity in June. Later, a court denied the NSS request to arrest Tsarukyan. Afterwards, an appeals court ordered a renewed examination and sent the case to the court of first instance.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan