Epress.am News from Armenia
Heritage Party Board Member, journalist Hrayr Manukyan submitted a criminal lawsuit against the National Security Service (NSS), however, the court rejected the investigation without justification. On November 17, Hrayr Manukyan’s lawyers stated the latter perspective at the Kentron and Nork-Marash Administrative District Court of First Instance.
The prosecutor did not attend the court session, only the basis of his written stance was sent.
The party’s and journalist’s complaint was connected to the NSS attempting to recruit Manukyan. In the recording released by the journalist, one can hear how a NSS worker threatened Manukyan after receiving a rejection from him. The Prosecutor General refused to implement a criminal case against the NSS, and currently the party and Manukyan are demanding to overturn the prosecutor’s decision.
The Heritage Party’s lawyer Harutyun Baghdasaryan noted that the prosecutor’s argument raises questions to whether the Heritage Party had the right to appeal for the decision of its member’s case and if it was baseless, however, according to the criminal judicial code article 290, other individuals are able to report a criminal act.
Baghdasaryan also said that the prosecutor did not have the right to not exhibit Manukyan’s recording as evidence. According to Baghdasaryan, the prosecutor initially had to implement a criminal case, then corroborate the exhibited scope of evidence.
According to the lawyer, the NSS employee committed a line of violations; especially, when he threatened Hrayr Manukyan, saying the journalist should think about his family.
Furthermore, in Baghdasaryan’s opinion, the case also has elements of trafficking, because Hrayr Manukyan was suggested work be someone, who the journalist did not know for sure was member of Armenia’s NSS.