The National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia, considering the way of providing publicly available information to the public about high-profile criminal cases, with the aim of preventing the spread of misinformation by the public interested or self-interested in the outcome of this criminal case, informs that in the conditions of the combination of sufficient evidence obtained during the preliminary investigation of the criminal case under investigation by the RA National Security Service during the 2 April, 2017 elections to the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia on giving bribes to voters, a decision was made to involve Gagik Kolya Tsarukyan, the leader of the Prosperous Armenia party and leader of the Tsarukyan bloc as a defendant under Article 38-154.2, Part 2 of the RA Criminal Code.

On the same day, the body conducting the proceedings, taking into account the factual data obtained in the criminal case, filed a motion with the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan to use the detention of the accused Gagik Tsarukyan as a measure of restraint, which was rejected by the court.

Taking into account the public interest in revealing the complete picture of the crime, the National Security Service of the Republic of Armenia expects to receive public support and urges the citizens of the Republic of Armenia to immediately notify the body conducting the proceedings if they have any information about this case.

The Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Armenia will appeal the decision of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan to the Criminal Court of Appeal.