The wealthy lawmaker, Ishkhan Zakarian, was elected to the Armenian parliament on the opposition Pativ Unem bloc’s ticket in 2021. He left the bloc a year later after being charged with abuse of power, money laundering and fraud allegedly committed when he had held various senior positions under Armenia’s previous governments.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General revealed on Tuesday that the accusations were subsequently dropped. In written comments to RFE/RL’s Armenian Service, the law-enforcement agency did not specify just when Zakarian was cleared of any wrongdoing and why. He has rarely attended sessions of the National Assembly and never backed opposition initiatives.
Zakarian came under public spotlight on May 9 as Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian launched a series of demonstrations in Yerevan aimed at forcing Pashinian to resign. Pativ Unem and Hayastan, a larger opposition bloc represented in the parliament, joined Galstanian’s protest movement, pledging to attempt a no-confidence vote.
The two opposition groups control only 35 seats in the 107-member National Assembly, lacking a single vote to formally put a motion of censure. They and Galstanian hoped to secure that vote from Zakarian. The protest leader said on May 12 that he twice met with Zakarian and that the latter “didn’t refuse to join this process.”
The Hraparak daily quoted Zakarian as indicating earlier this month that he is ready to vote against Pashinian if at least 18 lawmakers from the ruling Civil Contract party break ranks and give the opposition a majority of votes needed for ousting the prime minister.
The investigative publication Hetq.am reported that Zakarian, his wife, son and daughter-in-law were summoned to the Office of Prosecutor-General on Monday to familiarize themselves with the findings of an inquiry into the legality of their money, properties and other assets. The inquiry was conducted in accordance with a controversial law that allows law-enforcement authorities to confiscate assets deemed by courts to have been acquired illegally.
According to Hetq.am, in contrast with other asset forfeiture cases brought by them in recent years, the prosecutors declined to say which concrete assets of Zakarian and his family they want to confiscate. Significantly, the prosecutors also did not issue a statement on the confiscation proceedings launched against the family.
The publication also revealed that as part of those proceedings, another law-enforcement body froze on June 12 755 million drams ($2 million) worth of real restate belonging to Zakarian as well as his wife’s bank accounts. The lawmaker has not yet publicly commented on the development.
Over the past two years, the prosecutors have petitioned courts to dispossess dozens of former officials, including ex-Presidents Serzh Sarkisian and Robert Kocharian, and their relatives. So far there have been virtually no court verdicts on those cases.
Pashinian has repeatedly portrayed the law on asset forfeiture as a major anti-corruption measure that will help his administration recover “wealth stolen from the people.” Opposition figures counter, however, that Pashinian uses it to try to suppress dissent and cement his hold on power. Also, the prime minister has faced growing media allegations that members of his own entourage are enriching themselves or their cronies.