Armenian lawmaker faces corruption allegations, travel ban imposed

Armenian MP Ovik Agazaryan has been indicted on corruption charges, facing serious allegations of bribery and fraud.

According to the Prosecutor General’s Office of Armenia, a travel ban has been imposed against him as a preventive measure, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenia’s Public Television.

Armenia’s Prosecutor General, Anna Vardapetyan, presented a motion in parliament requesting consent to initiate criminal proceedings against Agazaryan. The motion was approved by 65 MPs, with only two voting against it.

The charges against Agazaryan stem from two separate incidents. In the first case, he allegedly promised to facilitate the export of agricultural livestock using forged documents. The plan reportedly involved bribing officials from Armenia’s Food Safety Inspection Authority. Agazaryan was said to have intended to charge businessmen between $200,000 and $300,000 for the export of 150–200 cattle.

In the second case, he allegedly demanded a bribe of $23,000 and 300,000 drams from a citizen, Aram Mkrtchyan, in exchange for facilitating the demolition of a dilapidated building at Elementary School No. 136 in Achapnyak and securing the land for residential construction.

The allegations come amid ongoing political turbulence in Armenia. In late October, Agazaryan was involved in a heated confrontation with the then-head of the Investigative Committee, Argishti Kyaramyan, which nearly escalated into a physical altercation. Shortly after the incident, Kyaramyan, along with several other high-ranking officials, was dismissed. MP Narek Zeynalyan, who was also involved, resigned from his position.

However, Agazaryan refused to step down or relinquish his mandate, despite Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's calls for his resignation. Following his departure from the ruling Civil Contract party, he now serves as an independent MP.

By Khagan Isayev