CEC postpones decision on criminal proceedings against Narek Karapetyan until July 22

Armenia’s Central Election Commission (CEC) has postponed until 1:00 p.m. on July 22 its consideration of a request to authorize criminal proceedings against Narek Karapetyan, an MP-elect from the Strong Armenia Alliance.

The announcement was made to reporters by the alliance’s representative and lawyer Aram Vardevanyan.

“We had reached the stage where the Central Election Commission, following deliberations, was to decide whether to grant or deny consent for the initiation of criminal proceedings. The CEC decided to postpone the session and continue it on July 22 at 1:00 p.m.,” Vardevanyan said.

According to Vardevanyan, the Prosecutor General’s Office’s petition is linked to allegations involving Alik Aleksanyan, a representative of the Strong Armenia Alliance. He declined to provide further details, noting that the matter was considered behind closed doors.

Earlier, CEC Chairman Vahagn Hovakimyan said that the Prosecutor General’s Office had requested the commission’s consent to initiate criminal proceedings against Karapetyan.

The Prosecutor General’s Office previously told Armenpress that, in the interests of the ongoing investigation, it would not comment on the specific criminal case to which the request relates.