Mihiran Poghosyan: First-Year Student or Fraudulent Documents for Elections from Russian University?

On May 18, a representative of Mihiran Poghosyan, Norair Harutyunyan, applied to the Passport and Visa Department of the Armenian Police to obtain a certificate confirming that Mihiran Poghosyan has been a citizen of the Republic of Armenia and has resided permanently in Armenia for the last four years. The application included a letter from the Moscow Polytechnic University confirming that Mihiran Poghosyan was admitted to the first year of the master's program with full-time education.

According to the law, an individual cannot be considered a permanent resident of Armenia if they have been absent from the country for at least 731 days in the 1,461 days preceding the application date. The same provision states that absence from Armenia may be considered justifiable under two circumstances, one of which is studying at a higher educational institution abroad.

Based on the documents presented, Mihiran Poghosyan was absent from the country for 753 days in the 1,461 days preceding the application, exceeding the legally established period by 22 days, resulting in the denial of the requested certificate.

On May 20, a second application was submitted by Poghosyan’s representative to reconsider the issuance of the certificate, accompanied by an additional letter from Moscow Polytechnic University dated January 15, 2020, stating that Mihiran Poghosyan attended preparatory courses at the respective university from May 25 to May 31.

To verify the authenticity of the documents, an inquiry was sent to Moscow Polytechnic University on May 22, 2021. Before receiving a response, Poghosyan's representative filed a lawsuit with the Administrative Court to compel the issuance of the certificate. On May 25, based on the court's decision, which also took into account the letter regarding the preparatory courses, the court granted the request, obligating the Passport and Visa Department to issue the certificate. The court's ruling was final and not subject to appeal.

In compliance with the court's decision, the requested certificate was issued to Mihiran Poghosyan on May 25.

Subsequently, on May 26, 2021, a response from Moscow Polytechnic University was received by the Armenian Police's Passport and Visa Department, stating that Mihiran Poghosyan was not enrolled in the preparatory courses, and denying the issuance of the above-mentioned letters on January 15, 2020, and May 21, 2021.

In order to suspend Mihiran Poghosyan's registration as a candidate for the extraordinary parliamentary elections, the Central Electoral Commission was immediately informed of these circumstances, and Poghosyan's representative was also notified.

On the same day, a third application was filed, presenting a certificate from the Belgorod State National Research University, indicating that Mihiran Poghosyan was included in the preparatory courses organized under the program 'Human Capital Management' from January 15, 2020, to May 31, 2020. To verify the authenticity of this document, an inquiry was sent to Belgorod State National Research University.

As of May 30, 2021, the inquiry results had not yet been received; therefore, considering the lapse of the prescribed three-day period, a new certificate was issued to Mihiran Poghosyan.