`Armenia`s ruling force staging performance against me` - Seyran  Ohanyan 

ArmInfo.  The head of the opposition faction "Armenia" of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia, former Minister of Defense of the Republic of Armenia Seyran Ohanyan responded to the ongoing discussions in the National Assembly on the petition submitted by the Prosecutor General of the Republic of Armenia Anna Vardapetyan for criminal prosecution against  him.

"Violating the requirements of Article 108 of the RA Constitutional  Law "Rules of Procedure of the National Assembly" (the procedure for  giving consent to initiate criminal prosecution against a deputy or  deprivation of his liberty), at the initiative of Nikol Pashinyan,  Anna Vardapetyan submitted a petition to the NA to give consent to  initiate criminal prosecution against me. According to the current  legislation, if the deputy indicated in the petition is absent from  the session of the National Assembly at the beginning of the  discussion of the issue for an unjustified reason, the issue is  considered without his participation. On July 1, I sent a letter to  the Chairman of the NA, in which I indicated that I could not attend  the extraordinary session of the NA, since I have been undergoing  rehabilitation treatment at a rehabilitation center since June 27,  and my treatment is ongoing. A certificate from a medical institution  was attached to the letter," the former minister noted on his  Facebook account.

It is obvious, Seyran Ohanyan continued, that the ruling elite of the  Republic of Armenia, being aware of my temporary disability,  organized this spectacle against me and my colleagues, pursuing two  main goals:  to distract public attention from the serious threats  they create to the state and, in agreement with the authorities of  Azerbaijan, to neutralize all those political, public, military  figures, philanthropists and clergy who fight for the sake of  Artsakh, Armenia, for the sake of the existence of the Armenian  people and their spiritual values.

By the time the issue of criminal prosecution against Artsvik  Minasyan was considered, the parliamentary opposition returned to the  NA session hall. In particular, the alleged illegal appropriation of  a land plot of 10.5 thousand square meters in the Drakhtik community  of the Gegharkunik region of Armenia, which was under the  jurisdiction of the Sevan National Park, is being discussed.  According to the investigation materials, Ohanyan, while serving as  the Minister of Defense, illegally took possession of this land and  built a mansion on it using state budget funds. Artsvik Minasyan,  according to the investigation, did not take any steps to legally  assess Ohanyan's actions during his tenure as the Minister of  Environment in 2016-2018. Moreover, he allegedly contributed to the  concealment of the crime by issuing construction permits to persons  associated with Ohanyan and allowing a number of documents to be  forged.