Stupid Lies Must Be Closed: Vardevanyan on SCC Statement

Narek Karapetyan is only a citizen of the Republic of Armenia; the page of stupid lies must be closed. This was stated by lawyer Aram Vardevanyan on his Facebook page.

“He specifically mentioned: ‘Step 1. Publish a stupid lie, Step 2. Based on the stupid lie, initiate a political criminal proceeding, but announce this through a political figure FIRST, Step 3. Spread the stupid lie, divert the people from their disgraceful conduct: In summary, Narek Karapetyan is only a citizen of the Republic of Armenia; the page of stupid lies must be closed, the page of hatred must be closed - CHANGES ARE COMING,’” he wrote.

It should be noted that the day before, the Speaker of the National Assembly, Alen Simonian, had published a document stating, “Is Narek Karapetyan a citizen of the Russian Federation?” Along with his post, there was a document containing details of a legal entity, which stated beside Narek Karapetyan's name that he is a citizen of the Russian Federation.

Narek Karapetyan responded shortly after the post, saying, “Alen Robertovich, please do not do such things. I am not a citizen of Russia; I have not held any citizenship other than that of Armenia. I have lived in Russia less than in England or Switzerland in my lifetime.”

Later, the CEC also addressed the issue, indicating that the CEC had verified documents regarding Narek Karapetyan being solely an Armenian citizen before registering the candidates of the ‘Strong Armenia’ alliance. “Information about all electoral lists of participating entities in the elections is available on the CEC website. All candidates registered by the CEC have had their documents verified, including proofs of permanent residence in Armenia and Armenian citizenship within the last four years. These documents are provided to candidates by the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and were submitted to the CEC,” the CEC spokesperson stated.

Today, the SCC issued a statement noting that Narek Karapetyan intentionally concealed information about having or having had foreign citizenship. “Based on a complaint, a criminal proceeding has been initiated at the Investigative Department of the Yerevan City Investigation Department under Part 1 of Article 449 of the Criminal Code (Concealment of information that obstructs the obtaining or retention of official status),” the SCC’s statement read.