Arsen Babayan's Arrest is Illegal: Lawyer Appeals the Decision

The arrest of Arsen Babayan, the former deputy head of the National Assembly staff, on suspicion of official forgery is illegal and unjustifiable. This was reported to NEWS.am by Babayan's lawyer, Lusine Martirosyan.

She has already appealed the arrest decision; however, no court hearing has been scheduled for the case yet.

It is noteworthy that Babayan was arrested yesterday, October 21, based on a report by National Assembly member Arman Babajanyan, in relation to a criminal case initiated on the grounds of usurpation of power.

The Investigative Committee announced yesterday that a new criminal offense has been revealed in this case, leading to the initiation of a new criminal case under the first part of Article 314 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (official forgery), which has been linked to the criminal case concerning the usurpation of power. This relates to the alleged official forgeries committed in the process of the former President of the Constitutional Court, Gagik Harutyunyan, resigning from his position, based on group interests.

It should be noted that the act stipulated in the first part of Article 314 of the Criminal Code is punishable by a fine ranging from two hundred to five hundred times the minimum wage, or imprisonment for a maximum period of four years.

It is important to mention that a person cannot be deprived of liberty, including being arrested or detained, for acts provided for in the first part of Article 314 of the Criminal Code that were committed before October 21, 2018, in accordance with the law on declaring amnesty in connection with the 2800th anniversary of the founding of Erebuni-Yerevan and the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence of the First Republic of Armenia.

It is noted that Babayan's alleged act occurred during the process of Gagik Harutyunyan resigning, whereas Harutyunyan resigned in March 2018. Given that the amnesty applies to acts committed until October 21, 2018, inclusive, it follows that Arsen Babayan has been arrested on suspicion of an act to which the alleged amnesty is applicable.