“Someone who is guilty must end up in prison”: Pashinyan’s harsh response to Hayk Sargsyan’s statements

Criminal proceedings have been initiated in connection with recent statements made by Hayk Sargsyan, a former MP from the Civil Contract faction.

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced this during a briefing with journalists.

He stressed that, as a result of the investigation into those statements, someone should be held criminally liable if it is established that a crime was committed.

“I think it would be good for our law enforcement system to develop a culture whereby, as a result of such statements, someone who is guilty ends up in prison,” Pashinyan said during the briefing.

The issue of Hayk Sargsyan and his relations within the ruling establishment resurfaced in early September following the former MP’s extensive interview with the Tete A Tete programme.

Sargsyan claimed, in particular, that a legislative initiative introduced by Alen Simonyan in 2019 to restrict the activities of betting offices had been drafted in the interests of VBet, formerly Vivaro. According to him, other representatives of the gambling industry had told him that the bill had been “written at VBet” and subsequently introduced by Alen Simonyan.

The Prime Minister noted that he had known Hayk Sargsyan since childhood and that they had a long history of relations, but strongly criticised Sargsyan’s current political positioning.

“I have a very long history of relations with Mr Sargsyan. I have known him since he was a child. But I must also say that this political positioning is one of the most dishonest manifestations I have seen in politics,” Pashinyan said.

He rejected claims that relations with Hayk Sargsyan within Civil Contract had become strained because Sargsyan had raised problems within the ruling establishment or introduced initiatives concerning the gambling industry.

According to Pashinyan, problems in their relations arose because of various incidents linked to Sargsyan.

“His relations within Civil Contract became strained because there were revelations concerning him. Those revelations have now been confirmed by court judgments that have entered into legal force. Criminal cases have been initiated,” the Prime Minister said.

He specifically referred to a case involving the operation of a sand mine.

“Relations became strained when the issue of the illegal operation of a sand mine was raised and it emerged that either he or persons affiliated with him were involved in that activity,” Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister also addressed incidents involving vehicle registration plates and Hayk Sargsyan’s assistant.

“Relations became strained because it emerged that he had been driving around the Republic of Armenia using illegal registration plates as if he were privileged, while his assistant had been driving without a driving licence. And when the police recorded this dozens of times, including cases involving the use of my name, those facts were not officially documented. A criminal case has been initiated in connection with the failure to document those facts, there are defendants, and dismissals have taken place within the police,” he said.

Pashinyan also addressed Hayk Sargsyan’s recent statements concerning the gambling industry, stressing that the policy of regulating the sector had been shaped at his initiative.

“The agenda concerning casinos is my agenda. I am the one who brought that agenda to the Republic of Armenia. And from 2018 to this day, we have been taking consistent steps, and from January 1, 2027, an operator will be in place that should resolve all our problems,” the Prime Minister said.

According to him, tensions in relations with Hayk Sargsyan also arose because, alongside discussions of legislative issues concerning the gambling industry, there had been contacts with representatives of the sector.

“Relations became strained because, on the one hand, they were discussing legislative bills, while on the other hand, they were calling people in that sector and saying, ‘Come, let’s negotiate and see what we are going to do about these issues.’ That is why the tensions arose,” Pashinyan said.

The Prime Minister also gave a harsher assessment of the former MP’s ambitions during his political activity.

“The tensions arose because Hayk Sargsyan had shown ambitions to become an oligarch since 2018, and I did not allow those ambitions to develop,” Pashinyan said.

He reiterated that Sargsyan’s public statements should have legal consequences, regardless of whose actions the investigation ultimately finds to contain elements of a crime.

“And I repeat that, as a result of those statements of his, someone must end up in prison. Who? I don’t know. I don’t care. But I will follow this through consistently,” the Prime Minister concluded.