National Assembly allows arrest of lawmaker Gagik Tsarukyan

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Armenian National Assembly on Tuesday, June 16 voted unanimously to allow the arrest of lawmaker Gagik Tsarukyan, hours after stripping him from his parliamentary immunity and opening him to prosecution.

The move comes amid a probe into businesses owned and run by Tsarukyan and several criminal cases involving the lawmaker.

All the 87 members of parliament who cast their votes represent the ruling My Step bloc, headed by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Opposition lawmakers from Bright Armenia and Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia parties did not participate in the vote.

Security service officers conducted a search at Tsarukyan's residence for four hours on Sunday. The man who is considered the wealthiest person in Armenia was then questioned for nine hours, with four criminal cases launched towards the end of the day.

According to the Security Service, a casino belonging to Tsarukyan has caused AMD 30 billion ($62 million) in damages to the state, while his party, Prosperous Armenia, handed out hundreds of millions of drams in election bribes in 2017.