10-20,000 Dram Bribery Offered: Charges Filed Against Supporter of 'I Have Honor' Alliance

A resident of Arjut village in the Lori region, identified as N.A., has been charged with offering a bribe of 10,000-20,000 Armenian drams to fellow villagers in exchange for their votes in favor of the 'I Have Honor' alliance during the early parliamentary elections in Armenia. This information was reported by the Office of the Prosecutor General of Armenia.

His employer, the son of a shareholder of an LLC company in Arjut, was running as a candidate for parliament with the 'I Have Honor' alliance.

According to the prosecutor's office, on June 18, 2021, around 8:30 PM, N.A. personally offered a bribe ranging from 10,000 to 20,000 AMD to a fellow villager to vote for the 'I Have Honor' alliance. The man refused. Minutes later, N.A. invited another villager to his apartment and made the same bribery offer.

The second villager had previously owed N.A. 7,500 drams, a debt accrued from services rendered, which N.A. promised to forgive in exchange for a vote.

N.A. has been charged under Article 154.2, Part 4, Clause 2 of the Armenian Criminal Code (Obstruction of Voter's Free Will). He has confessed to the charges, and a signature has been imposed as a preventive measure to ensure he does not leave the area.

As a result of the judicial proceedings, the First Instance Court found N.A. guilty on October 11, 2021, sentencing him to four years of imprisonment. However, the court conditionally suspended the execution of his sentence, setting a probation period of five years.

Following the court ruling, the Prosecutor General's office will consider whether to appeal the conditional suspension of the sentence.

It is noted that in the parliamentary early elections held on June 20, the ruling Civil Contract party received 53.92% of the votes and the Armenia alliance 21.04%. The 'I Have Honor' alliance secured parliamentary representation by receiving 5.23% of the votes, becoming the third highest political force.