“You know what, this is not a court, where one side accuses, the other side defends or doesn’t defend itself. This is just the National Assembly, which I think should decide whether it allows involving Mr. Oskanian in the whole investigation process as an accused.
The rest is the business of the attorney’s office and the court. As for all those arguments put forward by Mr. Oskanian, no one of us has said that he accuses Mr. Oskanian. The application itself doesn’t mention that. It mentions that there are accusations and an investigation should be conducted,” Galust Sahakyan, the leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA) parliamentary group said about the application to withdraw Prosperous Armenia Party (PAP) MP Vartan Oskanian’s immunity during a conversation with www.aravot.am today.
We asked to clarify whether he would personally vote in favor, he replied, “It is a secret ballot, but I can tell you about the principle – at the end of the day, one cannot leave that issue suspended. The applicant says that you are guilty; the defendant says that he is not guilty. The society doesn’t expect that. The accuser must be able to completely substantiate his accusation and the accused should try to say that he is actually honest. The charges against Oskanian may be dropped at the end of the investigation and someone else may be charged.”
In response to our observation that Vartan Oskanian was deeply offended by this attitude of the government and our question whether it was appropriate, Galust Sahakyan didn’t say anything. Instead, he recalled the following, “By the way, let me say that those who urge today not to withdraw the immunity have said for years that the parliamentary immunity should be voided. Today proved it cannot be voided.” In response to a question whether those who made fiery speeches today might stand by Oskanian during the vote, he said, “It doesn’t matter whether they will or will not stand. The matter is that the Constitution rightfully provides for the MP’s immunity, in order that there are no misunderstandings in such cases.”
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