Tsarukian was charged with tax evasion and banned from leaving Armenia on Tuesday after his Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) accused the authorities of trying to illegally prevent its presence in the country’s new parliament elected on Sunday. The BHK’s return to the National Assembly would deny the ruling Civil Contract party a 60 percent majority needed for the passage of some key laws and parliamentary confirmation of senior law-enforcement officials and judges handpicked by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian.
According to the preliminary election results released by the CEC, the BHK won 3.996 percent of the vote, falling just short of a 4 percent legal threshold for holding parliament seats. Tsarukian’s party has forced vote recounts in some precincts in a bid to recover votes allegedly stolen from it. The two other opposition groups that fared better in the polls have backed the effort.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General announced the indictment just as Tsarukian was about to fly to the United Arab Emirates for what his lawyer, Emin Khachatrian, described as a three-day visit planned before the June 7 elections. The BHK leader was unable to leave the country as a result.
Khachatrian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that the accusations denied by Tsarukian stem from a criminal case opened in 2019. He linked it to ongoing post-election developments in the country.
The Armenian Electoral Code stipulates that election candidates cannot be arrested and/or charged without the CEC’s consent unless they are caught red-handed committing crimes. Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetian’s office was asked by RFE/RL’s Armenian Service why it did not ask the CEC for permission to charge Tsarukian. As of Wednesday evening, it did not answer the question sent in writing.
“They could not bring such an accusation without overcoming [Tsarukian’s] immunity,” insisted Khachatrian. “This is stipulated by both the constitution and the Electoral Code.”
Artur Sakunts, a veteran human rights activist, also accused the prosecutors of breaking the law.
“What happened is a violation [of the law] because they do not have the right to initiate criminal prosecution against a candidate for parliament deputy without the consent and permission of the Central Election Commission,” Sakunts told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Pashinian has repeatedly pledged to imprison Tsarukian and two other top opposition leaders. During the election campaign, he announced the impending nationalization of Armenia’s largest cement plant belonging to Tsarukian. He went on to promise to “return to the people” the tycoon’s properties, notably a hilltop villa just outside Yerevan, in case of winning reelection.
