MP presses Investigative Committee chief on ANIF case

At a parliament session on Monday, Anna Grigoryan, an MP from the opposition Hayastan faction, pressed Investigative Committee Chairman Artur Poghosyan about the prolonged inaction in the corruption investigation into the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF).

“I want to understand why not a single person has been charged in the ANIF case after all these years,” Grigoryan said, highlighting the government’s failure to hold anyone accountable for the mismanagement of state funds.

She further inquired whether Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had been questioned as part of the investigation, noting that since ANIF operates under the government’s supervision, its head should be held responsible for any financial misappropriation.

The MP also accused the Investigative Committee of applying double standards in its enforcement of the law. She pointed out that while activist Samvel Vardanyan and journalist Lilit Aghekyan were arrested over charges of insult, the head of the Nor Nork administrative district was not detained after assaulting a civic activist.

Poghosyan responded by stating that the assault in question was classified as a crime of “minor gravity”, which does not necessarily warrant pre-trial detention.

However, he avoided answering the question about whether Pashinyan had been questioned as part of the ANIF investigation.