Armenia probes voting cases involving arrivals from Russia

Armenia’s Interior Ministry is investigating several cases involving the participation in voting of citizens who arrived from Russia in connection with the country’s parliamentary elections.

As Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media, Interior Minister Arpine Sargsyan made the announcement during a briefing.

“At the moment I would not like to disclose details, but all these cases are under our attention. In relation to a number of individuals, detentions were carried out where there were signs of interference with the free expression of voters’ will,” Sargsyan said.

She added that stricter procedural measures could be applied to those involved if necessary.

Sargsyan noted that Armenia’s current electoral legislation provides political forces with sufficient mechanisms to monitor the voting process. She pointed out that authorized representatives of candidates and political parties are present at polling stations, while vote counting is carried out under video surveillance and live broadcast.

Commenting on allegations of electoral violations, the minister said:

“There have been many such statements, but I have not seen any that are supported by concrete facts. When we suggested that the authors submit an official crime report, they refused.”

Parliamentary elections in Armenia were held on June 7.

By Vafa Guliyeva