As of June 7, 54 Reports of Electoral Violations Received by the Prosecutor's Office

According to the decision of the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia, in connection with the early parliamentary elections scheduled for June 20, 2021, a working group was established at the Prosecutor's Office. As of June 7, the group has received and examined a total of 51 reports concerning alleged electoral violations related to the pre-election processes.

Of these reports, 11 are based on publications from mass media, 24 are social media posts made by citizens, 13 are reports and applications submitted by individuals, 2 are data provided by police officers, and 3 are alarm calls received through the hotlines established at the Prosecutor's Office.

The Public Relations Department of the Prosecutor's Office has informed that regarding the mentioned 53 reports, it has been instructed to verify the legality and sufficiency of grounds for initiating criminal proceedings under Articles 180-181 of the Criminal Procedure Code in 9 cases. A decision was made to reject the initiation of a criminal case in 1 instance, while 8 cases are still in the preparatory phase.

“42 reports containing abstract and general information regarding the alleged electoral offenses have been sent to the Police of the Republic of Armenia for necessary verification actions. As a result of operational and investigative work conducted on 16 of these, the information has not been confirmed and therefore they remain without consequence. Investigative actions are underway for 26 reports,” the announcement stated.

The Prosecutor's Office reports that in relation to another 16 applications received that do not contain information regarding offenses as defined by the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia, clarifications have been provided to the citizens or the applications have been forwarded to the Central Election Commission of the Republic of Armenia.

Furthermore, 44 of the reported criminal offenses regarding suspected electoral vote-buying or obstruction of free will of voters (Article 154.2 of the Criminal Code) have been forwarded to the police for verification or preparation of materials; 5 pertain to hindering pre-election campaigning (Article 149.1, Clause 3 of the Criminal Code); and 2 are of other nature.

According to the source, the Prosecutor General's Office urges citizens and entities participating in the elections to report any apparent case of electoral crime that becomes known to them and contains specific details to the law enforcement agencies through all possible lawful communication means.