The prosecutor initiated a public criminal prosecution against Gagik Tsarukyan, under Article 290, Part 3, Clause 2 of the Criminal Code, “especially large-scale tax evasion”. “Azat” was informed about this by the General Prosecutor’s Office.
The ban on leaving the country was chosen as a preventive measure. No further details are being released at this time.
The leader of the “Prosperous Armenia” party, Gagik Tsarukyan, is still a deputy candidate in the June 7 parliamentary elections, and the permission of the Central Electoral Commission is needed to initiate criminal prosecution. A candidate cannot be deprived of his liberty without the consent of the CEC, except when he is caught at the time of committing a crime or immediately after. The Central Electoral Commission adopts a decision on the mentioned issue with at least 2/3 of the votes of the total number of commission members.
Meanwhile, the CEC spokesperson told “Azat” that they did not receive an application from the Prosecutor’s Office to initiate criminal prosecution against Tsarukyan. How did it turn out like that? He relayed that he would check and respond.