Parliament majority to approve prosecution’s request on indicting two MPs

The Civil Contract faction of the Armenian parliament will vote in favor of approving the Prosecutor-General’s motions on stripping two MPs of immunity for indicting them, the parliament majority leader Hayk Konjoryan told reporters.

Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetyan officially requested parliament to allow prosecutors to press charges against MP Taron Margaryan (Pativ Unem faction) and independent MP Hovik Aghazaryan. 

Initiating criminal proceedings against a sitting MP requires parliament to approve the motion because legislators have immunity. 

Vardapetyan told lawmakers that Aghazaryan is suspected of bribery. She said that Aghazaryan allegedly demanded 100,000$ from two entrepreneurs for obtaining a livestock export license without the necessary procedures. The MP did not receive the bribe in this case. However, in another case, according to prosecutors, Aghazaryan allegedly took a 23,000$ bribe to secure a construction permit in Yerevan for a construction project. The MP allegedly took the bribe but didn’t deliver the promised permit. 

Aghazaryan has denied any wrongdoing.

Taron Margaryan, a former Yerevan mayor, is suspected of abuse of power during his tenure in a case pertaining to illegal alienation of municipal lands and money laundering. He has also denied wrongdoing.