David Sanasaryan's Powers Will Not Be Suspended, Vladimir Karapetyan

The Prime Minister of Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, does not intend to temporarily suspend the powers of the head of the State Control Service, David Sanasaryan, during the investigation. This was stated by the Prime Minister's spokesman, Vladimir Karapetyan, in a conversation with a correspondent from Pastinfo.

Previously, Pastinfo had reported, citing its sources, that based on a criminal case regarding the abuse of official power by employees of the State Control Service, a preventive measure of signing not to leave the country had been chosen for David Sanasaryan as a suspect. This information has not been denied by the NSS, the Prosecutor General’s Office, nor Sanasaryan himself.

The media outlet asked the Prime Minister's press secretary whether the Prime Minister intends to suspend D. Sanasaryan's powers during the preliminary investigation phase to exclude any possible influence on employees and ensure the objective investigation of the case.

“If the Prime Minister had such an opinion, he would have stated it,” Karapetyan responded.

It should be noted that the powers of investigators, police officers, and prosecutors are immediately suspended if they are involved in a criminal case, while in cases involving officials, courts have opted for detention as a preventive measure, indicating that being a public official may allow them to obstruct or influence witnesses. Furthermore, the Prime Minister immediately dismissed the Deputy Minister of Health accused of bribery. However, the spokesperson did not elaborate on the rationale behind the Prime Minister's decision not to temporarily suspend the powers of the head of the State Control Service.

Contrary to the information from the Prime Minister's spokesman, today there have been reports in the media that the candidacy of Tigran Ulikhanyan, a deputy from the ruling “My Step” faction, is currently being considered as a replacement for David Sanasaryan.