The bloc announced on December 7 that its parliament deputies not charged with any crimes will not join Armenian parliamentary delegations travelling abroad out of solidarity with their colleagues facing what they see as politically motivated charges.
Two days later, the Constitutional Court declared the arrest of the three Hayastan deputies illegal, saying that they enjoy immunity from prosecution. They were set free the next day.
In a statement, Hayastan’s parliamentary group said their release was followed by the lifting of some of the travel bans.
“Given that a considerable part of our demands for the lifting of illegal restrictions on the deputies’ activities have been fulfilled, the Hayastan faction has decided to resume its participation in the work of international organizations,” read the statement. It did not specify which of those lawmakers can now go abroad.
As of December 7, twelve of the 29 Hayastan deputies were not allowed to leave Armenia because of having been indicted in various criminal cases. They included the bloc’s parliamentary leader Seyran Ohanian, deputy speaker Ishkhan Saghatelian and Armen Gevorgian, the chairman of the parliament’s Committee on Regional and Eurasian Integration.
Gevorgian is the sole full-fledged opposition member of the Armenian delegation in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). He and Hayastan’s top leader, former President Robert Kocharian, are standing trial on corruption charges strongly denied by them.
The judge presiding over the trial refused to allow Gevorgian to attend the PACE’s winter session held in Strasbourg late last month. Earlier, she also banned Kocharian from visiting Moscow at the invitation of Russia’s ruling party.
Hayastan condemned those decisions, saying that they were made under strong government pressure. The bloc expressed confidence on Wednesday that it will also succeed in forcing the authorities to scrap the remaining travel bans and free several other opposition figures still held in detention.