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Any offender can claim to be victim of persecution in Armenia - politician
TERT.AM
12:51 - 13.10.12
With Armenia not being governed by rule of law, anyone in the country
can be persecuted for political views and just vice versa, offenders
can attribute to themselves the role of a persecution victim, an ex
Foreign Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has told reporters.
Arman Melikyan made the statement when commenting on the criminal
charges against former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian who was
elected to parliament in May as a representative of the Prosperous
Armenia party (PAP).
`The fact of being a foreign minister cannot, of course, be a
justification for a misdemeanor, but that's works in the European
states. I think there are certain problems here. They say the money
sent by the Huntsmans [the family which donated $1.4m to Oskanian's
foundation, Civilitas] helped launch an independent media outlet.
While financial expectations behind the investment can be ruled out,
there are clearly political expectations. I do see a problem from that
point of view,' Melikyan said at a news conference on Saturday.
The politician noted the case cannot be deemed to have guilty or
non-guilty parties unless there is an appropriate legal platform in
Armenia. `Such is our reality today,' he added.
Oskanian, who founded of the Civilitas Foundation in 2008, quit the
organization's board in May to join the Prosperous Armenia party and
run for parliament. On May 25, the National Security Council launched
a money laundering proceeding against Civilatas, accusing the
foundation of a failure to report a $1.5 million donation to the tax
authorities. Oskanian's lawyer later asked a Yerevan district the
court to halt the proceeding but his motion was rejected. Prosecutor
General Avghan Hovsepyan later asked the National Assembly to consider
stripping the ex minister of minister of mandate. His petition
received the parliament's approval on October, with the opposition MPs
boycotting the voting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
TERT.AM
12:51 - 13.10.12
With Armenia not being governed by rule of law, anyone in the country
can be persecuted for political views and just vice versa, offenders
can attribute to themselves the role of a persecution victim, an ex
Foreign Minister of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic has told reporters.
Arman Melikyan made the statement when commenting on the criminal
charges against former Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian who was
elected to parliament in May as a representative of the Prosperous
Armenia party (PAP).
`The fact of being a foreign minister cannot, of course, be a
justification for a misdemeanor, but that's works in the European
states. I think there are certain problems here. They say the money
sent by the Huntsmans [the family which donated $1.4m to Oskanian's
foundation, Civilitas] helped launch an independent media outlet.
While financial expectations behind the investment can be ruled out,
there are clearly political expectations. I do see a problem from that
point of view,' Melikyan said at a news conference on Saturday.
The politician noted the case cannot be deemed to have guilty or
non-guilty parties unless there is an appropriate legal platform in
Armenia. `Such is our reality today,' he added.
Oskanian, who founded of the Civilitas Foundation in 2008, quit the
organization's board in May to join the Prosperous Armenia party and
run for parliament. On May 25, the National Security Council launched
a money laundering proceeding against Civilatas, accusing the
foundation of a failure to report a $1.5 million donation to the tax
authorities. Oskanian's lawyer later asked a Yerevan district the
court to halt the proceeding but his motion was rejected. Prosecutor
General Avghan Hovsepyan later asked the National Assembly to consider
stripping the ex minister of minister of mandate. His petition
received the parliament's approval on October, with the opposition MPs
boycotting the voting.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress