The head of the Bright Armenia political party, Edmon Marukyan, told journalists that the criminal charges pressed against Serzh Sargsyan are solely a part of a legal process. But in order to find any political elements, the circumstances need to arise that would prove this to be all for show. “Let’s look at what Republicans were writing on Facebook yesterday. I saw them posting that Sergo Karapetyan, who was one of their ministers, testified against Serzh Sargsyan. Then, they criticized the authorities and said that this is political persecution. That’s like Mane Tandilyan testifying against me and I blame Nikol for it. He was your minister. Something must’ve happened for your minister to testify. They have been saying that Serzh Sargsyan needs to be imprisoned for a long time. Regarding attempts to silence him, then I must say that Serzh Sargsyan has always been silent and he always said that he will speak when the time is right. What are they trying to silence?”
Journalists reminded him that Serzh Sargsyan spoke in Zagreb. Marukyan said that his speech can be considered a part of this criminal case. He became active so that people can say that he is a victim of political persecution. He said that he will follow the criminal case, and if any problems arise, he will mention them.
When asked if the criminal case has anything to do with the negotiations process because people say that the Artsakh issue has entered another phase and needs to be neutralized, Marukyan said, “The former authorities are completely taking advantage of the Artsakh issue. They’re saying that the negotiations have entered another phase… meanwhile, we have been hearing that for 30 years. Claims that the authorities are going to give up land were also made during Serzh Sargsyan’s administration. How can they say the same thing now?”
When asked if the Republican Party’s threats that this will be mentioned in international platforms will damage Armenia’s international reputation, Marukyan said that the RPA has been saying that Armenia is an authoritarian regime in international platforms for over a year now. They have also shared Serzh Sargsyan’s speech across several platforms. But this did not cause any problems for Armenia. The only area where there might be issues is with the European Parliament. “They have received many letters about criminal cases in Armenia, but nothing has happened yet.”
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Hripsime Jebejyan
