Failed Vetting Attempted Again

According to the newspaper "Haykakan Zhamanak," despite the failure of judicial reform promises by the authorities after the Velvet Revolution, they are once again announcing their intention to start the vetting process. In a conversation with journalists yesterday, acting Minister of Justice Rustam Badasyan stated that after receiving a steel mandate, the authorities will carry out systemic vetting.

It is noted that after the elections, acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, during a rally he convened, invited those with illegal property to return what they had plundered. "I call on everyone to start negotiations regarding the restitution of stolen property, which will serve the socio-economic agenda of Armenia," he said.

Addressing Pashinyan's statements, Badasyan mentioned that regarding the law on confiscation of property of illegal origin, about twenty cases are in the summarization phase, and there are some interim court acts concerning securing the claims.

It is worth noting that the authorities talked about vetting immediately after the Velvet Revolution, but it failed. The threat of vetting failed, the presidential order to impose their will on judges through court blockades, and the plan to take over the Constitutional Court all ended in failure. And despite Badasyan's assertion that two dozen cases are in the summarization phase, the fact remains that since September 2020, not a single official has found themselves in the dock for illegal enrichment, nor has any of their property been confiscated.

After all these failures, the authorities are once again speaking about implementing systemic vetting or confiscating illegal property. Let's see how long it takes before they fail their plans this time.