Court Candidates Release Misinformation, Says Anti-Corruption Commission

The Anti-Corruption Commission has issued a statement that is presented below:

“Following the statements made by candidates for the Constitutional Court judge during the Armenian National Assembly session on September 14, 2020, as well as the responses they provided to questions directed at them, the Anti-Corruption Commission (hereinafter referred to as the Commission) records:

1. Information has been published by the candidates that does not correspond to reality. In particular, Constitutional Court candidate Artur Vagharyan stated in response to one of the questions that he received a call from the Anti-Corruption Commission, during which inquiries were made regarding his party affiliation and the presence of high-ranking officials among his relatives. The Commission declares that it did not direct such inquiries to the Candidate and that the dissemination of such information by the Candidate does not reflect the truth.
2. There have been evaluations and characterizations concerning the Commission's findings on the candidates' integrity, which have called into question the credibility of the information presented by the Commission. In particular, candidate Edgar Shatiryans provided assessments regarding the data presented in the Commission's integrity conclusion, suggesting that the information in that conclusion is untrustworthy.

The Commission reaffirms that the information regarding property status presented in the integrity conclusion is based on data obtained from state administration, local self-government bodies, as well as through other mechanisms entrusted to the Commission by the Law on the Anti-Corruption Commission.

The Commission again declares that, in accordance with the Law on the Anti-Corruption Commission, the integrity conclusions provided by the Commission are not subject to publication, and calls upon all officials who receive these conclusions by virtue of their position to strictly adhere to the requirements of Armenian legislation, refraining from any discussions about the content of the conclusions with individuals who do not have the authority to access it.

The Commission reminds that the conclusion cannot be discussed, and explanations or clarifications regarding it cannot be provided even to the Candidates. Therefore, it urges officials and candidates to refrain from any actions that fall outside the bounds of legality.”