Lawyer: Corruption issues identified in 17 areas ahead of  parliamentary elections in Armenia

ArmInfo.  Based on a study conducted as part of a seminar on corruption prevention, the anti-corruption platform AntiCor has identified corruption issues in 17 areas ahead of the June parliamentary elections in Armenia. Lawyer Arsen Babayan announced on May 15 during a Yerevan press conference titled "Corruption in the Pre-election Period." 

As in the past, Babayan noted, criminal cases (such as those  involving the giving or receiving of electoral bribes—Ed.) rank  first, having become the primary instrument of pressure exerted by  the Armenian authorities, manifesting itself in the form of political  persecution. "The abuse of administrative resources is evident in  these cases,  creating the impression that the Criminal Code of  Armenia is being used by the authorities as a 'heavy club' to  intimidate opposition supporters. In this manner, the authorities are  attempting to demonstrate that anyone who supports the opposition  risks being detained," the lawyer emphasized.

Regarding wiretaps, Babayan expressed his belief that all opposition  forces are currently subject to them.  He also noted that this is a  rather lengthy process, requiring considerable time to process and  edit the recordings. However, he added, the authorities are doing  everything possible to make them publicly available as quickly as  possible. He also noted that the Anti-Corruption Committee, in its  recordings, not only informs the public about events, but   specifically names the political forces, placing particular emphasis  on their titles. "What is interesting is that the ruling party is not  subjected to wiretapping. But if they were being wiretapped as well,  perhaps the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia would not have  issued a statement regarding the head of the Talin community, Tavros  Sapeyan (a member of the ruling party), who was distributing social  assistance on the eve of the elections, and in whose actions the  Anti- Corruption Committee of Armenia saw no crime," Babayan  stressed.

The lawyer also touched on the legislative initiative introduced by  Armenian Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan and several ruling party  MPs to increase penalties for giving and receiving election bribes.   Babayan believes that this initiative is specifically targeting the  opposition and members of civil society who do not support the  current Armenian government. The lawyer expressed his conviction that  this is all being done once again with the goal of intimidate  dissenting citizens. "It's no coincidence that this is being publicly  discussed. For example, ruling party MP Vahagn Aleksanyan, on live  television, once again drew attention to the increase in prison terms  for giving and receiving election bribes," the lawyer noted.  Babayan  concluded by stating that the Investigative Committee of Armenia, the  Anti-Corruption Committee, law enforcement agencies, and the  Prosecutor General's Office have thus become tools of the ruling  Civil Contract party's campaign headquarters. 

As a reminder, Alen Simonyan, Speaker of the National Assembly of  Armenia, previously introduced a legislative initiative to increase  the existing penalties for giving or receiving election bribes.  According to the Speaker of the Armenian Parliament, the previously  stipulated penalty for giving election bribes ( imprisonment for up  to 8 years), would be replaced with imprisonment for up to 10 years,  and the penalty for receiving an election bribe, which was  imprisonment for up to 7 years, would be replaced with imprisonment  for up to 9 years.