Friday, October 25 2019 14:22

ArmInfo. They can arrest me only  with the consent of the Constitutional Court. The head of the  Constitutional Court of Armenia Hrayr Tovmasyan stated this in an  interview with the <Pressing> program (operating under the <168 Jam>  newspaper).

<I would like to draw everyone's attention to the fact that judges of  the Constitutional Court, appointed before April 9, 2018, both by  European standards and by the latest decisions of the Constitutional  Court, have not only functional, but also complete inviolability for  the entire previous period. In order to prosecute me and start  criminal prosecution, they can arrest me only with the consent of the  Constitutional Court, despite the fact that this was amended in the  2015 Constitution and established exclusively functional immunity>,  Tovmasyan stated.

To the journalist's remark that if the arrest has a political  decision, Tovmasyan emphasized that the Constitutional Court should  remain in its role and make a legal decision, and any legal decision  is acceptable to him.

<Whatever the resolution of the situation, in one I will be  consistent. The decision should be legal, it should not be to the  detriment of our legal security and constitutionality, should not  contradict my conscience, should not be a bargain>, he said.  -sh-

According to him, at the moment when five judges of the  Constitutional Court declare that he is not managing his duties, he  is ready to resign from the post of head of the court and continue to  work as a judge.

To recall, last week, on the basis of a statement by MP of the  National Assembly of Armenia Arman Babajanyan, a criminal case was  opened in connection with the case of "an apparent crime of  usurpation of power". Babajanyan claims that Hrayr Tovmasyan usurped  the position of President of the Constitutional Court using criminal  schemes. The MP believes that in 2018 a group of officials, including  President of the Constitutional Court Hrayr Tovmasyan, took office as  President of the Constitutional Court with violations of the law.

A few days ago, the Special Investigation Service distributed a  report that, in the framework of the criminal case instituted on the  basis of Babajanyan's report, Ara Babloyan, the former President of  the National Assembly, was involved as a suspect.  In this case,  Arsen Babayan, former deputy head of the NA apparatus, was arrested  on charges of promoting usurpation of power and committing forgery.  Hrayr Tovmasyan has no status in the case.