Councilor grills Yerevan mayor over ANIF corruption case

Yerevan City Council member Pedro Zarokian questioned Mayor Tigran Avinyan’s confidence in his immunity from prosecution regarding the now-defunct Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF).

"I want to understand where your confidence comes from. Is it because you offered jobs at ANIF to relatives of top law enforcement officials? Some reports also suggest that you employed a member of the prosecutor general’s family in City Hall, along with other relatives of law enforcement leadership," Zarokian asked Avinyan at a City Council session on Tuesday.

The councilor was referring to Avinyan’s recent statement to a journalist, in which he claimed that a criminal case against him would not be possible in the ongoing corruption probe into ANIF.

In defense, Avinyan maintained that his confidence stems from a clean record over the past seven years. "None of my actions could have led to such an investigation against me," he said.

Zarokian, however, accused the mayor of mismanaging ANIF funds and suggested that his close ties to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan may be shielding him from legal consequences. He warned that law enforcement agencies are increasingly seen as instruments of the ruling party, rather than impartial enforcers of justice.

Zarokian pointed to the recent incident involving public activist Artur Chakhoyan, who was assaulted by the Nor Nork district head and his staff members. However, the police detained the victim instead of the perpetrator, underscoring impunity for government officials.