"The National Assembly has got a definite order"
"The National Assembly is subject to criminal idleness," Heritage Party MP Larissa Alaverdyan said to A1+. The reason for Mrs. Alaverdyan's indignation was the parliament's refusal to put a number of draft bills on the agenda, as well as the indifference towards the fate of the arrested deputies Miasnik Malkhasyan, Sasun Mikayelyan and Hakob Hakobyan.
Today the Heritage demanded the NA Speaker to convene a sitting and cancel a NA decision according to which the Armenian parliament was to deprive the inviolability of the arrested MPs.
"The National Assembly does not deal with legal matters," NA Speaker Hovik Abrahamyan said in reply.
"If the NA doesn't deal with legal matters, as you say, what matters does it deal with? Yes, I do think that the National Assembly became an accomplice of a crime which resulted in the detention of our colleagues on baseless charges and already on non-existent articles. This is a crime.
Hovik Abrahamyam may say that unless the court has proved the guilt or innocence of the detained MPs, we are doves of innocence, but we must not forget that thanks to the National Assembly today we have three captive deputies and one on the run," added Mrs. Alaverdyan.
"Not only the Heritage but also the PACE co-rapporteurs demand application of Articles 225 and 300," reminded Mrs. Alaverdyan.
Another Heritage member, Zaruhy Postanjyan, thinks the National Assembly doesn't want to convene a sitting, hear the detained MPs and restore their inviolability as it is solving an issue bound to the parliament. "The National Assembly has a definite "order"-to keep the political prisoners charged with the "case of seven" in custody.
With regard to the separation of the cases, Mrs. Postanjyan said neither the prosecutor's office nor the court had a right to file new charges against the defendants and divide the case into five parts.
