Anahit Bakhshyan, a Heritage Party MP nominated for majoritarian representation in no. 12 electoral district of Shengavit community, warned www.panorama.am yesterday that some Arsen, aka Ayvaz, had been handing out 8 thousand AMD to citizens on behalf of the Republican Party of Armenia on Manadyan St. to vote for the party. On the same street, some person by the name of Volodya has been handing out 13 thousand AMD in the Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) office to vote for the PAP.
Anahit Bakhshyan has also gotten a copy of the special list that has been prepared by the RPA, where a future voter is required to fill in passport data, phone number etc. That paper, according to Ms. Bakhshyan, has been handed out to the teachers of schools in Shengavit. “Let the publication be the grounds, I have applied to the police, to the Central Electoral Commission (CEC) in the publication, I cannot do anything yet,” Anahit Bakhsyan said to www.aravot.am in this regard.
Let us mention that according to the Criminal Code, taking or giving election bribe is a wrongful act. According to Article 154 of the Criminal Code, taking bribe is punished with fine of at least 16 million AMD or imprisonment for 1-3 years and stricter punishment is stipulated for giving bribe. Anahit Bakhshyan assured in this regard that law-enforcers would have no alternative and would surely punish the election briber to the fullest extent permitted by law, but before that they had to catch him red-handed, “God grant, I manage to catch someone red-handed – that person will serve the whole punishment provided for by the law, I promise it to the public. It will be hard for me to catch an election briber red-handed, because they know me, but I have a serious network in that district, very reliable people. They called me immediately, but it was physically not possible to manage and catch on the spot, but there will be other opportunities. And if I catch him, no matter who he is, he will serve his punishment provided for by the law.”
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In response to our observation that election briber and bribe taker would certainly not go and apply to the law-enforcing bodies, in order that it was perceived as reliable evidence, Ms. Bakhshyan assured that “we have citizens who struggle against bribery, people are ready to reveal and provide me with the fact by themselves. There will be people who will watch and catch, we will film and record it as evidence. I will do whatever it takes.”
Hripsime JEBEJYAN
