Abuse-of-power charges brought against top Armenian officialApril 19, 2019 - 12:29 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Head of Armenia’s State Supervision Service Davit Sanasaryan has been charged with abusing power for the benefit of personal or group interests. According to the National Security Service, the charges were brought as part of a criminal case investigating interference in the process of purchasing hemodialysis equipment for the country’s hospitals. The NSS said the employees of the State Supervision Service have intervened in the process for the benefit of a company they favored. Part 1 of Article 308 of the Armenian Criminal Code imposes punishment - a fine, detention or incarceration - for causing considerable damage to serve one’s own personal or group interests. Sanasaryan himself described the charges as “fabricated,” maintaining that “it would make a lot more sense to suspect me of assassinating [the 35th President of the United States John F.] Kennedy than of having anything to do with corruption.” Top stories The number of state universities will be reduced from 23 to 8 by 2030, Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport Zhanna Andreasyan has said. From September 21 to November 11, a total of 2,820 Russians registered at a place of residence in Armenia, the police has said. The situation on the contact line between Karabakh and Azerbaijan was relatively stable overnight, the Defense Army says. Defense Minister Suren Papikyan has visited the southern Armenian province of Syunik, the Defense Ministry reported on March 18. Partner news | Armenia to participate in key EU meeting for the first time ever National Assembly speaker Alen Simonyan has said that Armenia will for the first time participate in the Conference. U.S. reacts to Russia’s criticism of upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting Matthew Miller has weighed in on Russia’s criticism of an upcoming Armenia-EU-U.S. meeting. Lavrov sees ‘collapse’ of Russia’s ties with Armenia Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has underscored heightened tensions between Russia and Armenia. Russia clarifying reports on Baku’s alleged arms supply to Ukraine Russia says is carefully working to verify reports about alleged arms supplies from Azerbaijan to Ukraine |