Prosperous Armenia party election list No. 2 Andranik Tevanyan, commenting on Investigative Committee allegations that he disclosed secret information from a closed National Assembly session to another country, said in a Facebook live broadcast that he was no longer an MP in 2024 and could not have attended a closed session, “therefore the remaining claims are absurd.”
“The absurdity of this fabricated case is immediately obvious, because, yes, I was elected an MP in 2021, but in 2023 I gave up my National Assembly mandate and after that took part in Yerevan Council of Elders elections, already not as an MP. But the Investigative Committee’s statement says that I disclosed secret information regarding closed, secret National Assembly hearings in 2024. In other words, I physically could not have attended the 2024 hearings, therefore the remaining issues, some money-related matters and so on, are absurd.
Since Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is engaged in state treason, he is trying to drag me into a process where he will shout the loudest: catch the state traitor. And I would advise the Investigative Committee: when fabricating a case, do it in a way that does not put you in a ridiculous position,” Tevanyan said.
Investigative Committee spokesperson Kima Avdalyan responded to Andranik Tevanyan’s statement on Facebook, noting that they also know that he gave up his mandate in 2023.
“If you read the statement carefully, you will see the word ‘illegal.’ That is, during 2024 the person illegally gathered information containing state secrets. That circumstance is also subject to investigation,” the post says.
On May 20, during a rally in Vanadzor, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the National Security Service would send a crime report to the Investigative Committee with the expectation of initiating criminal proceedings against Andranik Tevanyan. Andranik Tevanyan is No. 2 on the Prosperous Armenia party’s election list.
Tevanyan was elected a member of the National Assembly on June 20, 2021, through the national electoral list of the Hayastan alliance of parties. However, on August 17, 2023, he gave up his parliamentary mandate.
