Criminal Case on President's Dual Citizenship Concealment Refused Without Collecting Explanations

The criminal case regarding the concealment of President Armen Sarkissian's dual citizenship has been refused based on the absence of a crime. This information was provided to 'Factinfo' by Ara Zohrabyan, the head of the Armenian Lawyers' Union.

It should be noted that 53 lawyers filed a report to the Armenian Prosecutor General regarding the concealment of President Armen Sarkissian's dual citizenship. Specifically, according to the report, Armen Sarkissian held British citizenship for at least 10 years from 2003 to 2012 and was elected President of Armenia on March 2, 2018, while failing to meet the requirement of holding only Armenian citizenship for the last six years.

Armen Sarkissian could have only been elected President of Armenia if his UK citizenship had been terminated before March 1, 2012 (March 1, 2018 — 6 years). The head of the Presidential Administration referred to the certification required by Armenian legislation during the presidential election process presented to the National Assembly of Armenia.

The Prosecutor's Office forwarded the report to the Special Investigation Service (SIS), where it was decided to refuse to open a criminal case based on the prepared materials.

The SIS refused to open the criminal case without obtaining explanations from the individuals who filed the report. Moreover, no explanations were collected from the President either. In any case, the documents do not indicate that the President has provided any explanation.

Ara Zohrabyan mentioned in an interview with 'Factinfo' that they are preparing to appeal the decision to refuse to open a criminal case. They have already requested copies of the materials for composing a more complete appeal.