The Office of the Prosecutor-General formally requested such permission about a month ago. It said that Ohanian, who is now the parliamentary leader of the main opposition Hayastan alliance, illegally privatized land and built a summer house in a natural reserve when he served as Armenian defense minister from 2008-2016. It said that Artsvik Minasian, another Hayastan parliamentarian, facilitated the alleged land seizure in his then capacity as environment minister.
Both Ohanian and Minasian rejected the accusations as politically motivated. Other opposition lawmakers linked them to Pashinian’s threats voiced during the Armenian government’s question-and-answer session in the parliament on May 7.
At that session, Pashinian lost his temper and pledged to “go after” Ohanian and other Hayastan lawmakers in response to their claims that he is turning a blind eye to media reports about corruption among members of his entourage. “You must be the first to go [to prison] and you will go,” Pashinian shouted at the retired general.
Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetian insisted that the criminal charges are substantiated as she was grilled by deputies from Hayastan and the other parliamentary opposition group, Pativ Unem, during a two-day parliament debate on the lifting of the two lawmakers’ immunity from prosecution. Ohanian effectively boycotted the debate, while Minasian delivered a lengthy speech in which he vehemently denied breaking any laws or environmental norms.
“There was no illegal construction during my tenure,” Minasian said, accusing the authorities of seeking to muzzle political opponents.
“You are Nikol’s lawyer,” Pativ Unem’s Anna Mkrtchian told Vardapetian, who previously served as a legal adviser to the prime minister.
Meanwhile, lawmakers representing the ruling Civil Contract party defended the criminal proceedings sought by the prosecutors. Accordingly, the pro-government majority in the National Assembly voted to give the green light for the prosecution of their opposition colleagues.
