On April 22, the State Revenue Committee of Armenia (SRC) made a statement announcing that the Department of Investigations of SRC, based on sufficient evidence acquired during the initial investigation of a criminal case launched criminal cases in March and April against the former Armenian Ambassador to Vatican City, Mikayel Minasyan for alleged crimes posing public danger.

365news talked to Project Director of Transparency International Anticorruption Center, Varuzhan Hoktanyan and Karapet Badalyan, a human rights lawyer, about this issue.

Hoktanyan has underlined that criminal prosecution must not be selective. “Such criminal cases will play vital roles in the fight against corruption if, unlike the previous cases, everything from the beginning to end is conducted in a professional manner and the public is kept informed on how everything is proceeding and that this does not end only with Mikayel Minasyan,” he added. Hoktanyan also thinks that if such cases are initiated not only against former officials but also people currently in government, then we could say that the fight against corruption will be efficient.

According to Hoktanyan, this criminal case can only be viewed political if it is limited to only a number of former opponents. However, if this is done in a more enhanced way without differing between former and current officials, loyal and disobedient actors, then it will certainly not be seen as politically motivated.

Original source: 365news