On May 22, the prosecutor submitted a motion to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) seeking consent to initiate criminal prosecution against Andranik Tevanyan, a parliamentary candidate from the “Prosperous Armenia” party in Armenia’s National Assembly elections, 1lurer.am reported.
The Central Electoral Commission later stated that it had not received a motion seeking consent to prosecute parliamentary candidate Andranik Tevanyan, according to Factor.am .
A parliamentary candidate enjoys immunity during the election campaign period. CEC consent is not required if the candidate is caught while committing a crime or immediately afterward.
Earlier, it became known that National Security Service officers carried out investigative actions at the office of the Mother Armenia party led by Andranik Tevanyan, while the Investigative Committee launched criminal proceedings over alleged treason and espionage.
According to a report received by Armenia’s Investigative Committee from the National Security Service, Armenian citizen A.T., while being a political figure supporting the Hayastan alliance during the 2021 parliamentary elections and included in the alliance’s national electoral list as a member of parliament, was allegedly recruited by foreign intelligence services during 2024. Acting on instructions from a representative of foreign intelligence services, who serves as director of the “Russia Caucasus” geopolitical center, he allegedly engaged in espionage during the same period and unlawfully collected and transferred state secret information translated into Russian concerning the course and results of closed National Assembly hearings held in April 2024, in exchange for $622,000. Authorities claim this constituted treason against Armenia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and external security.
Tevanyan was elected to parliament on June 20, 2021 through the national electoral list of the Hayastan alliance of parties, but relinquished his parliamentary mandate on August 17, 2023.
