National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan said Armenia will not detain or extradite individuals wanted in Russia if their prosecution is politically motivated.

In an interview with the TV Rain channel, RA National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan ruled out the possibility of detaining or extraditing individuals persecuted in Russia if the charges against them are politically driven, Auroranews.am reports.

“No one has been deported from Armenia. If a person does not violate our laws, no criminal case is initiated against them. There have been situations when individuals were detained, but after clarifying the circumstances, those rare cases ended with their release,” Simonyan said.

He said that many individuals wanted in Armenia — “former political figures accused of violence, murders and corruption — are now hiding in the Russian Federation.”

“I guarantee to you that not a single person will be detained or extradited to any other, third country on political grounds. I officially guarantee this. Many people come to us, many artists, many well-known individuals who have been labeled as foreign agents and so on. They hold concerts here,” the Armenian parliament speaker said.