Monday, October 28 2019 16:28

ArmInfo. Former Speaker of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia Ara Babloyan insists that Gagik Harutyunyan signed a statement on the resignation of the  post of chairman of the Constitutional Court on March 1, 2018. He  voiced his stance in an interview with the Armenian service of Radio  Liberty.

According to him, the seal of the Constitutional Court dated March 1  and the seal of the National Assembly dated March 2 are present on  the statement of Gagik Harutyunyan. Commenting on the fact that the  document was submitted to the official "Mulberry" electronic system  only on March 5, Babloyan did not exclude the possibility of  negligence of the staff of the National Assembly, who belatedly  completed their work. In any case, the former speaker does not see  any legal problems in the situation, regardless of whether the  statement by Gagik Harutyunyan was dated March 2 or March 5.

To recall, the former speaker of the National Assembly of Armenia Ara  Babloyan was involved as a suspect in the criminal case on usurpation  of state power. Acting Deputy Chief of Staff of the Parliament Arsen  Babayan is also accused in the framework of the same case. He was  charged with part 1 of article 38- 300 (implication in usurping state  power) and part 1 of article 314 (official forgery) of the Criminal  Code of Armenia.  According to the indictment, on February 12, 2018,  the NA President proposed the candidacy of MP from the Republican  Party of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan to the vacant seat of a member of  the Constitutional Court. On March 2, 2018, the National Assembly  elected the latter a member of the Constitutional Court.  As of March  1, 2018, when 40 days still left before the 7th chapter of the  Constitution was to come into force, according to the referendum of  December 6, 2015 (the newly elected President of Armenia was to take  office on April 9, 2018), a group of officials, in order to avoid the  upcoming constitutional regulation on the election of the head of the  Constitutional Court for a term of 6 years and the possibility for a  member of his team to remain in office until the age of 70, seized  power in violation of the constitutional order, appointing Hrayr  Tovmasyan for the post of chairman of the Constitutional Court on  March 2,  2018 - prior to the entry into force of this restriction ,  "the SIS reports.  According to the SIS in particular, the former  head of the Constitutional Court, Gagik Harutyunyan, whose term of  office (70 years) was supposed to end on March 23, 2018, signed a  statement addressed to the NA Speaker Ara Babloyan on the resignation  of the post of the Chairman of the Constitutional Council, which was  dated  March , 2018.  This application was sent from the general  department of the apparatus of the Constitutional Court and, through  the head of the apparatus, was presented to the acting Deputy Chief  of Staff of the National Assembly Arsen Babayan, on March 5.  Moreover, Speaker of the National Assembly Ara Babloyan, having not  officially received Gagik Harutyunyan's statement,  on March 2  illegally signed and made a statement on the resignation of the head  of the Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan. Otherwise, the  President of the National Assembly would not have been able to  announce the resignation of the Head of the Constitutional Court  before the next ordinary sitting of the National Assembly on March  20, 2018.

And in this case, in conditions of the three-day deadline stipulated  by the law, it would be impossible to appoint Hrayr Tovmasyan as the  head of the Constitutional Court, as no regular meeting of the  National Assembly was scheduled before that, "said the SIS.

The SIS also emphasizes that Arsen Babayan, having violated the legal  regulation on part 6 of Article 97 of the Law "On the Rules of the  National Assembly" adopted on February 20, 2002, with the intention  of assisting a group of people in usurping the powers of the  Constitutional Court, in the context of introducing, Gagik  Harutyunyan's statements to the official "Mulberrry" electronic  system of the General Department of the National Assembly on March 5,  2018, through the employees of this department, introduced false  information to the press about the receipt of this statement. He also  noted the entry date on the Mulberry system March 2, 2018. Thus, he  distorted the fact that Gagik Harutyunyan's statement arrived in the  National Assembly on March 5.

Thus, Arsen Babayan created false grounds for the publication of the  fact that the head of the Constitutional Court Gagik Harutyunyan  submitted a letter of resignation signed by the Speaker of the  National Assembly Ara Babloyan on March 2, 2018, in order to usurp  the powers of the Constitutional Court. This, in turn, became the  basis for the termination of his powers, and later on for the process  of nominating and appointing Hrayr Tovmasyan to this vacant position.

Arrest was chosen as a measure of restraint against Babayan.