Former MP Naira Zograbyan believes that the criminal case against the Vice-Chairman of the Republican Party, Armen Ashotyan, is politically motivated. She stated this on July 10 to journalists outside the Anti-Corruption Court, where Ashotyan's case is being heard.
"There can be no two opinions here: this is a political vendetta against a politician who has not hidden and does not hide his attitude towards the current government. Jurisprudence is present here as much as I can imagine myself as the Queen of England. Moreover, I have more chances at some point to become the Queen of England than to have justice in this court," Zograbyan noted.
She added that it is very hard to imagine what is happening now during the times of former leaders when a woman is judged for handing over a certain document to the leader of the 'Mother Armenia' party, Andranik Tevanian. And this is at a time when both Gegham Manukyan and Armen Rustamyan have repeatedly emphasized that no material related to state secrets was discussed at that session of the National Assembly in 2024.
"But in any case, arresting the mother of two children, one of whom is a minor, while at one time the Council of Europe held me by the throat, demanding the application of arrest only in exceptional cases, is simply unthinkable. The arrest has turned into popcorn, into seeds," Zograbyan said.
Earlier, the Investigative Committee of Armenia reported that a decision was made to detain former Minister of Education and Science Armen Ashotyan, former Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan, his son Artem Khachatryan, former Minister of Defense Vigen Sargsyan, former rector of the State University named after Valery Brusov Gayane Gasparyan, and former vice-rector Arthur Avagyan, as well as former deputy director of the 'Yerevan Mall' shopping center Arutyun Tadevosyan on charges of abuse of office and money laundering in the amount of over 200 million drams.
Criminal proceedings have been initiated against the above-mentioned individuals under the relevant articles of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia for abuse of office, complicity in this, and money laundering in particularly large amounts by a group of persons. According to the Investigative Committee, the former Minister of Education and Science of Armenia, acting in complicity with six individuals, abused his official powers and assisted former Minister of Finance Gagik Khachatryan and his son Artem Khachatryan in acquiring property that could not be alienated.
Armen Ashotyan was arrested on June 5.
