Epress.am News from Armenia
Court of General Jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork-Marash Administrative Districts has found the General Prosecutor’s decision to reject a criminal case against the National Security Service (NSS) grounded. Today, Judge Armen Bektashyan rejected the appeals filed by Heritage Party Executive member, journalist Hrayr Manukyan (pictured) and Heritage Party.
The party and journalist's appeals were related to an attempt by an NSS representative to recruit Manukyan. The journalist released a recording which reveals an NSS representative threatening Manukyan after a refusal to join the service. Manukyan demanded a criminal case be initiated against the NSS, which the Prosecutor’s office rejected to do.
Representative of Heritage Party’s interests, lawyer Harutyun Baghdasaryan told Epress.am late last year, that the Prosecutor’s office did not have the right to reject Hrayr Manukyan’s recording as material evidence. According to Baghdasaryan, the Prosecutor’s office first had to initiate a criminal case then justify the material evidence. In addition, as stated by Baghdasaryan, there are elements of trafficking in the case, because Hrayr Manukyan was offered a job by a person who did not present himself as an NSS employee.