Today Serzh Sargsyan received Armenia’s Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan to discuss public concerns over election bribe."This negative phenomenon questions the legitimacy of each election. The primary task of each democratic and lawful state is to neutralize such undesirable impact and ensure the conduct of free and fair elections," said Serzh Sargsyan. The country’s leader stressed that the though the working legislation allows proper prevention or revelation of crime and punishing those guilty, additional means are necessary to ensure more effective application of law. Sargsyan said the law enforcement officials should free those people from responsibility who took bribes and report about it to law enforcement bodies, thereby assisting in revealing the crime. In the given circumstances, the citizen who has ‘stumbled’ once will have an opportunity to contribute to the struggle against "election bribes," thus avoiding inventible punishment. President Sargsyan received today the RA Prosecutor General Aghvan Hovsepyan. At the meeting discussed were issues pertinent to the frequently voiced by the public concerns about the election-related buying-off cases. On this issue, the President gave relevant instructions. “Undoubtedly, such negative occurrences cast a shadow on any electoral process, and it is the most important issue for any democratic and legal state to neutralize that harmful influence and secure free and fair elections,” the President of Armenia said.
Sargsyan underscored that even though the acting legislation allows to prevent or eliminate this crime and punish those culpable, nevertheless considering the importance of the issue and in order to ensure the most efficient application of the provisions of the law, it is necessary in the shortest possible time to undertake additional measures conditioned by the situation. According to Sargsyan, in the framework of the existing regulations, a priority in the activities of the relevant bodies should be the acquittal of the criminal charges of those who allegedly took kickbacks if they willingly come forward, report such cases and assist in the disclosure of such cases. He also said that when such guarantees are in place, a citizen who has erred once will get the opportunity to assist in the fight against “election-related buying-off” cases and thus will stay away from the inescapable punishment.