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At April 11, the National Assembly debated the petition on filing public criminal prosecution against the NA deputy Mher Sahakyan presented by the RA Prosecutor General.

According to Anna Vardapetyan, during the working debate behind closed doors, at about 11:15 am, that began on March 31, 2023 at 10:05 with the participation of the deputies of the RA NA Civil Contract Faction Arpine Davoyan, Vigen Khachatryan and Alkhas Ghazaryan, the deputies of the Armenia Faction Artsvik Minasyan and Gegham Nazaryan, the Representative of the RA Government Yeghishe Kirakosyan, with hooligan motives; i.e. the deputy Mher Sahakyan making use of the remark made to the participants by the Chair of the NA Standing Committee on State and Legal Affairs Vladimir Vardanyan for restoring the normal procedure of the sitting because of deviating from the debate by Artsvik Minasyan and returning to the debate theme, with the wish to underline his own advantages, demonstratively opposed Vladimir Vardanyan and showing disrespectful attitude towards the attendees, as well as legal, including obvious contemptuous attitude towards the norms prescribed by the constitutional law the RA NA Rules of Procedure. Demonstratively ignoring the rules of coexistence he displayed aggressive behavior, hit by hand on the table, stood up, shouting made a remark to Vladimir Vardanyan with the purpose of impeding the normal work of the debate behind closed doors of the Committee trespassed Alkhas Ghazaryan, sitting between him and Vladimir Vardanyan, approached the latter and with his right hand on purpose hit the left temporal area of his face, causing the light damage to his health, with short-term deterioration of health: causing torn wound, in the form of the left suprabrow, the scratch of the back of the nose, in the form of hemorrhages of left upper and lower eyelids.

In the Prosecutor’s Office of the city of Yerevan it was clarified by the study of the materials of the criminal proceedings that by the examination made sufficient factual data were obtained, which give a basis for filing public criminal prosecution against the deputy of the NA eighth convocation Mher Sahakyan. Then Anna Vardapetyan presented the testimonies of the injured Vladimir Vardanyan, witnesses Vigen Khachatryan, Alkhas Ghazaryan, Arpine Davoyan and the Representative of the Government Yeghishe Kirakosyan. He noted that everybody documented that during the debate behind closed doors, Vladimir Vardanyan did not comment anybody of the attendees, there was no insulting expression.

The RA Prosecutor General also touched upon the testimonies, face-to-face examinations of the deputies of the Armenia Faction Mher Sahakyan, Artsvik Minasyan, Gegham Nazaryan. They affirmed in their testimonies that Vladimir Vardanyan aggressively walked towards Mher Sahakyan. However, after the incident during the conversation with Vladimir Vardanyan they accepted Mher Sahakyan’s illegal behavior and expressed readiness to punish the latter.

It was mentioned that the case examination venue and forensic examination took place. The deputy of the Armenia Faction Mher Sahakyan refused to hand over blood sample for clarifying the availability of drug or psychotropic substances, as well as alcohol after the incident happened with Vladimir Vardanyan in the National Assembly.

“According to forensic conclusion, Vladimir Vardanyan’s bodily injuries, by the data of the presented medical documents and objective study, were caused by blunt, hard object,” Anna Vardapetyan said.

The forensic expert was examined and gave a testimony that the physical injuries of Vladimir Vardanyan’s left eyebrow area could not have been caused by the direct impact of the sharp edge of the broken scissors found during Mher Sahakyan’s personal search and submitted to the forensic examination, because under those conditions the injury would not have been a torn wound but in the form of a puncture wound.

The RA Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, concluding, mediated to the Parliament to give consent to initiate a public criminal prosecution against the RA NA deputy of the eighth convocation Mher Sahakyan.

After the Prosecutor’s speech, the deputy of the Civil Contract Faction Vahagn Aleksanyan inquired what threatens the opposition deputy if the NA deprives him of his parliamentary immunity.

“What Mher Sahakyan did towards Vladimir Vardanyan is not a serious crime, according to the new Criminal Code it is categorically not allowed to impose a prison sentence on him, public service and a fine are applicable,” the Prosecutor General answered.

According to the rapporteur, the third party, Yeghishe Kirakosyan, also stated in his testimony that during the sitting, his attention was focused on Mher Sahakyan’s behavior: the opposition MP behaved aggressively and unexpectedly.

“The case examination revealed that Mher Sahakyan took a step towards Vladimir Vardanyan and hit him. There are still blood traces on Vladimir Vardanyan’s chair,” Anna Vardapetyan mentioned.

The deputy Arpine Davoyan inquired why Mher Sahakyan refused to submit to a forensic chemical examination.

“Not giving a sample for forensic chemical examination is a person’s right, there is no litigation toolkit to force him. The reason is not known, we accepted it as a fact and recorded it,” the Prosecutor General noted.

The MPs of the opposition Factions also asked questions to the Prosecutor General about the issue.

In his speech, the MP Mher Sahakyan opined that the reality is being distorted due to party group interests, double standards are in place, there is an atmosphere of governmental impunity, unprincipled and unacceptable actions are being carried out. Speaking about the petition, the deputy stated that he does not agree with the accusation of hooliganism in his actions. “I assure you that hooliganism as an objective and subjective phenomena are not present in my actions, and the blow was done solely for the purpose of necessary protection,” the opposition MP underlined and stressed that if the protection crossed the line, then he is ready to give an answer, up to imprisonment. “In order not to create an impression that I am hiding under the cover of parliamentary immunity, my colleagues will not mind me personally voting for the petition, because I want the truth to be revealed,” Mher Sahakyan said.

The RA NA Vice President Hakob Arshakyan stated at the last sitting that there is no peace on borders of Armenia because of the provocative actions by the Azerbaijani armed forces hours ago. The NA Vice President sent words of support to the RA Armed Forces and soldiers, wishing them strength and courage in protecting the borders of our homeland. The moderator of the sitting proposed to touch upon the issues on the agenda at tomorrow’s sitting.

The National Assembly will continue its work on April 12 at 10:00.