This is the Result of a Serious Political Crisis Between Armenia and Russia: Politician on the Non-Extradition of Mihran Poghosyan

The former head of the National Security Service and former MP Mihran Poghosyan's non-extradition to Armenia is a result of a serious political crisis between Armenia and Russia. Political scientist Stepan Danielyan stated this in an interview with NEWS.am.

"One of the assumptions is that the reason Mihran Poghosyan is not being extradited to Armenia may be related to that case, because, if we recall, it's a matter of large sums of money, and there were certain pieces of information that suggested it could somehow be connected to the April War; at least, there were unverified pieces of information about that. Perhaps Russia has some interests in that matter.

"On a more global level, this is a consequence of a serious political crisis between Armenia and Russia because there are inter-state agreements, and Armenia and Russia are in very serious inter-state relations. If Mihran Poghosyan or anyone else is not extradited, it strains those inter-state relations, and the inter-state agreements are starting to malfunction. The implications of this are very serious concerning Armenian-Russian relations, and, of course, explanations should be provided. If explanations are not given, this indicates very poor relations. If they are not extraditing, it means there is a lack of trust," said the political scientist.

He noted that the behavior of the Armenian authorities is very unpredictable, and the future steps regarding this issue are uncertain. "When the head of state surrounds courts and then says the courts are sold, the courts are unfair, and later asks to extradite a person to judge them—if someone says that the Constitutional Court is 'a booth', it means the whole state is 'a booth'. This means that this country does not live by any laws, does not live by the Constitution; in other words, these are statements of a person with an unclear, non-state mentality who is in charge of the state. This signifies that the legal foundations of the state are being questioned by the head of state himself. How are other states supposed to act with a country that conducts such politics? This is just one of those manifestations," he added.

Earlier, it was reported that according to information received from the Prosecutor General's Office of Russia, the approval of the Armenian Prosecutor General's request for Mihran Poghosyan's extradition for criminal prosecution could not be deemed possible.