Armenian parliament holds a secret ballot on the issue of depriving  Manvel Grigoryan of parliamentary immunity

ArmInfo. In the National Assembly of Armenia, a break was announced in connection with the holding of a secret ballot on the issue of depriving Manvel Grigoryan  of his immunity for the purpose of bringing him to criminal liability.

Presenting the position of the parliamentary majority, the head of  the Republican Party faction Vahram Baghdasaryan said that the RPA  deputies will not obstruct the investigation. At the same time, based  on the presumption of innocence, the faction will be consistent in  the issue of consistent disclosure of all the circumstances of the  Manvel Grigoryan case. "If the Prosecutor General's accusations are  confirmed, the accused must be punished with all the severity of the  law, regardless of his position and past merits," the deputy said.

On June 19, the Prosecutor General of Armenia Artur Davtyan presented  to the RA National Assembly deputies a motion on depriving Manvel  Grigoryan of his parliamentary immunity in order to bring him to  criminal liability. He said that within the framework of the criminal  case initiated on June 15, part 2 of Article 235 (illegal circulation  of arms), it was proved that MP, chairman of the Yerkrapah Volunteer  Union Manvel Grigoryan illegally acquired a large quantity of  weapons, ammunition, stored them in his mansion, utility rooms, in  his charge rooms. According to the investigation, on June 5,  Grigoryan, with the help of household members and others, began to  transport weapons and ammunition, intending to "cover up tracks".  Despite these attempts, during the search on June 16, a large number  of ammunition was found:  mines, grenades, TNT, more than 17,000  bullets of various caliber, a large sum of money - 71.760.000 AMD,  80.000 USD, 67.350 EUR, 246.500 UAH. In addition, 33 vehicles,  including Rolls Royce, Toyota, Mercedes, Hammer, as well as  collection cars and military vehicles, were found in the premises  (recreation areas) in the village of Arshaluys and Echmiadzin. In the  village of Arshaluys, letters of pupils from the schools of the  village of Choratan, Verin Tsakhkvan, Akhuryan, Yerevan and  Echmiadzin to soldiers during the April war in 2016, food boxes,  medical and hygienic supplies, medicines, army logo bags, linens were  found on the territory of the zoo. On canned goods and condensed milk  found inscriptions, "My brave soldier", made by students. In order to  avoid Manvel Grigoryan's attempt to obstruct the search, a connection  was established with his son, he instructed Armen Hakobyan to go to  the search site and "take it upon himself." Approximately half an  hour later he appeared in his place and stated that the discovery was  his. This circumstance has special significance for determining the  behavior of Manvel Grigoryan, and then tried to substitute another  person, it is emphasized in the petition. On June 6, Manvel Grigoryan  was detained in accordance with Article 96 of the Constitution,  Grigoryan's rights are secured. As part of the investigation, it was  established that the Ministry of Defense legally handed over the  Yerkrapah Union products and some things (underwear) for carrying out  army charges. In addition, the volunteers who went to the front line  in April 2016 were on the content of the Defense Army and received  food and clothing. At the same time, it is established that he  illegally got food for Manvel Grigorian, he fed the pets of his zoo.   One more criminal case was filed under Part 1 of Article 235 of the  Criminal Code in connection with the LLC, which was found on the  territory of Grigorian. On the same day, searches were carried out at  the specified LLC, a pistol, a knife and 36.884.370 drams, letters of  children to soldiers, military uniforms, products in boxes and sacks  were found. They were labeled "For soldiers, not intended for sale."  On June 17, the cases are combined into one production. A criminal  case was instituted in accordance with Point 1 of Part 3 of Article  179 (appropriation of someone else's property in especially large  amounts). As part of the investigation, it was proved that Manvel  Grigoryan, with the assistance of other persons, purchased and stored  in his mansion in the village of Arshaluys a large number of weapons  and ammunition, including a grenade launcher. Further, about 7  million drams were found during the search of "Ara and Ajtsemnik" LLC  (zoo) associated with Grigoryan. As noted in the petition of the  Prosecutor General, all the revealed circumstances increase the risk  that while being at large, Manvel Grigoryan will show inappropriate  behavior, will try to exert pressure on the participants of the  process, hide evidence, falsify documents, or run away. Moreover,  similar facts have already been fixed. The social position,  conditioned by the status of a deputy and previous posts, public  work, creates the prerequisites for a certain influence. The accused  faces imprisonment from three to eight years.