Hakov Hakobyan Elected with Bribery

The newspaper "Zhoghovurd" reports: "On June 16, during the discussions in the National Assembly regarding the stripping of immunity from the leader of the Prosperous Armenia Party, Gagik Tsarukyan, MP Mane Tandilyan inquired from the Prosecutor General Artur Davtyan: 'Do you only have information about electoral bribery related to this political force - the Tsarukyan alliance, or have you never once had information regarding electoral bribes from the Republican Party? Haven’t you ever come across a list of electoral bribes distributed in headquarters?' In response, the Prosecutor General stated: 'If any documents related to elections of this political force or any other political force are found during a search in this or that institution, I assure you, they will have absolutely the same fate.'"

Recently, the head of the Martuni community in the Gegharkunik province, Armen Avetisyan, made a significant statement regarding former Republican Party MP Hakob Hakobyan in a conversation with "Zhoghovurd". The reason we approached Avetisyan is due to a report from the National Security Service, which noted that the 'homeland of electoral bribery' was Martuni city; thus, we sought a comment from the Martuni mayor.

In the interview, Armen Avetisyan stated that he has never been a member of any political party and has not interfered in electoral processes: 'Back then they said that mayors must necessarily be members of the Republican Party, but I have not joined any party, nor have I followed in the footsteps of any party. I have never been involved in such things and became mayor without distributing 1000 drams as electoral bribes.'

Regarding Hakob Hakobyan, Avetisyan remarked: 'When Hakob Hakobyan was elected, I was the first mayor to say that he is not my city’s representative; he was elected through bribery. Hearing that he became an MP by distributing electoral bribes made me sick.' Thus, the mayor of Martuni is reporting a crime: the Republican MP distributed electoral bribes. It is interesting to see whether the NSS and the Prosecutor General's Office will pursue this statement.'