Lawyer rejects charges against former ANIF head as baseless

Lawyer Hakob Yenokyan provided details regarding the prosecution of David Papazian, the former director of the Armenian National Interests Fund (ANIF), at a press conference on Friday.

Papazian faces charges of money laundering and abuse of office, allegations his defense team dismisses as unlawful and unfounded.

"Nikol Pashinyan is attempting to turn us into scapegoats for his and his government’s shameful mistakes and failures, which derailed some of the projects created by ANIF’s founding team," Papazian said in a statement earlier on Monday.

"True to form, he is once again on course for a fiasco," he added.

Responding to Papazian statements, Pashinyan remarked: “The moment he was placed on an international wanted list, he suddenly remembered that ‘Pashinyan betrayed our hopes.’ It's strange that he didn’t make such claims four months ago for international organizations to portray him as a political prisoner now."