Category: 2020

ArmInfo. For the Armenian authorities, maintaining tax secrets is not an end in itself. This was stated by Chairman of the State Revenue Committee of the Republic  of Armenia David Ananyan at a hearing in the parliamentary commission  on financial-credit and budgetary issues of the National Assembly on  February 4.

According to him, expanding the list of issues related to tax  secrecy, which the group of deputies of the Armenian parliament  insists on, should be the subject of public discussions. Ultimately,  the country's main tax official continued, tax secret is understood  as commercial secret. "More recently, we opened administrative  proceedings in connection with the appeal of one of the business  entities that complained about data leakage to one of our  competitors," said David Ananyan. He also stated that the issue of  maintaining tax secrecy is also a subject of internal security, and  tax officials are personally responsible for this. Nevertheless, the  head of the SRC called for a public discussion on this issue, based  on the results of which, perhaps, a reasonable decision will be made.  "The problem does not rest on whether the SRCemployees are ready or  not to disclose information, but whether the public is ready for  this," said David Ananyan.

It should be noted that at present only the draft amendments to the  law "On Bank Secrecy" are in circulation, according to which the  court will be able to receive information from banks about the  accounts of financial offenders and their relatives. 

ArmInfo. I am ready to return to Armenia and publicly answer all the questions of the  investigation. This is stated in the statement of the former Prosecutor General of Armenia Gevorg Kostanyan, who, to recall, who is accused in the case of the events of March 1, 2008.

The statement in particular notes: "Despite the fact that the charge  brought against me is devoid of any legal, logical and substantive  basis, I express my readiness to return to Armenia and publicly  answer all questions of the preliminary investigation body, given the  large range of the" March 1 case", including the unilateral  presentation of this issue by the authorities at various  international venues. I propose organizing a public discussion with  the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia or with his direct  participation on-line, as well as with the participation of the head  of the SIS, the Prosecutor General, lawyers and international  experts. I also insist that representatives of the Council of Europe  and the EU in Armenia be invited to and participate in this public  discussion, as well as other ambassadors, whose presence I am ready  to ensure if necessary. I leave the number of participants in the  discussion and their choice to the discretion of the Prime Minister.

Although I am not a supporter of public discussion of criminal cases,  nevertheless, my demand to answer questions publicly is due to two  main reasons. The first is a unilateral discussion of the "March 1  case", including at international venues and at the level of  ambassadors of different countries. The second is that law  enforcement agencies, without any justification, publish decisions on  bringing charges and other procedural documents in the media, and  through one-sided coverage by pro-government media, they give the  public the impression of guilt of specific people, hiding the real  circumstances of what happened in my case.

I'm even ready to return, realizing that after this meeting I will be  arrested, but our society should be informed not only about the  grounds and reasons for charging me with the question and answer  format, but also about those especially important circumstances of  the March 1 case, who are hiding from the public under the guise of a  "secret investigation".

The Prime Minister of Armenia should be especially interested in such  a public discussion for two reasons. Firstly, since transparency and  open discussion with the people has been declared by him as a  priority, and secondly, since such a discussion will give him the  opportunity to assess the level of professionalism in the work of law  enforcement agencies subordinate to him, as well as the reliability  and validity of the legal subtleties reported to him in the office.  

If in the course of this public discussion the RA law enforcement  agencies succeed in presenting at least one more or less reasonable  evidence or the justification of the charges against me (not to  mention the totality of evidence), then I am ready to bear criminal  responsibility to the fullest extent of the law. I am also ready to  bear any responsibility, even if during this public discussion I can  not justify every word I say, based on the legislation, the  Constitution and the provisions of international criminal law>.  

To recall, on September 25 last year, former police chief Alik  Sargsyan was charged in the framework of the case of March 1, 2008.  The names of Gevorg Kostanyan and Gevorg Mheryan are mentioned in the  text of the charge. According to investigators, Sargsyan also  participated in hiding the facts of the participation of the military  in dispersing the opposition. A few years ago, from the Republic  Square in Yerevan a video goes viral on the Network, where vehicles  with the numbers of the Ministry of Defense,  as well as military  personnel were recorded. 

In addition, from the point of view of the investigation, the police  leadership and representatives of the Armed Forces drew up documents  stating that the army vehicles were transported not by soldiers, but  by police officers. Correspondence between the police and the  Ministry of Defense was fabricated for this.