– On July 17 the National security Service called Karine Haurtyunyan, a member of the Civilitas foundation’s board, to give testimony. What questions was she asked?
– She was asked about our financial affairs, but as she had just recently joined the board, in February, she did not have much to say. That’s all.
– What was the goal of questioning her?
– You have to ask the investigators. It is a good question, but unfortunately I don’t know.
– On July 18 the head of the government’s state incomes committee Gagik Khachatryan signed an order stating that the check-up in the foundation would be delayed for ten consecutive days. What is the reason?
– They say that time was not enough for them to complete their work. But I believe the reason is the fact that there is nothing to find in our organization as we have been maximum transparent and clean. Generally the authorities started the process from the other end: in the beginning they decided that a criminal case has to be launched, later they decided the target against who the case would be launched, and now they are looking for ways to justify their decision. As the foundation’s work was connected with donations, they have to look into it and see what is up there. I know that there is nothing suspicious there that would allow them launch a criminal case. They have to explain the first step, which in fact had to be the last one. I assure that there is no sense of doing this because there is no fact they are looking for, and also if they are expecting to make our work slower, they cannot do that.
– Do you mean that the initial step they made was done for political purposes and now the authorities are looking for justifications?
– There is no other explanation.
– Hmayak Hovhannisyan recently announced that the PA had come to an agreement with the authorities to freeze Oskanyan’s case in change for the PA’s commitment to stop the signature-collecting initiative. He said that this was the reason why the general prosecutor’s office had frozen the case. Is it true?
– No, it has nothing to do with reality. The case is not frozen. Everyone can sit at home and speak about conclusions, but it has nothing to do with the reality. Currently the criminal case is still pending, it concerns Vartan Oskanyan and his Civilitas foundation, and in the ground of this case there are accusations and allegations that concern our colleagues, donors, and generally the society and independent media.
– You are non-partisan, but do you have any idea why the PA does not come up with an announcement to back Oskanyan?
– It’s true that I am non-partisan and I think other people should answer that question.
– Why does Oskanyan refuse to give testimony?
– Because in this case it is not the responsibility of the foundation’s director and Oskanyan to prove our innocence. The criminal case is formulated in a manner that it already contains allegations and accusations. According to the international law, as a witness you don’t have to give testimony about your case. So if the NSS has already made conclusions, they should also know the way how they can prove it legally. They used to say that we were witnesses of the case, but it turned out that the case directly concerned us, accordingly it was our right to refuse answering those questions. I don’t have to prove my innocence. You don’t have to prove your innocence either. The Constitution of Armenia writes that we are innocent till the time when somebody proves the vice versa. However, the officials of this country are speaking and doing things in a manner that people should forget about this right. According to a recent survey on the part of Civilitas foundation, people of the country had really believed that innocence had to be proven. It has nothing to do with the Constitution and democratic values.
– What is the status of the case now?
– There are two different processes: one is managed by the NSS, and the other one by the state income committee. The tax committee told us that they needed ten days to decide whether to give us a penalty or no. In parallel with that the NSS is asking for documents, calling people to their office, etc. I don’t know when it will be over. I hope soon. The more this case is delayed, the more it will become evident that this case is stimulated by political reasons. Thus, if the case still continues to exist, I have no other explanations that the reasons are political because there are no facts proving us being guilty.
– Can we look at the issue from another point of view? Many people believe that Oskanyan is using these things for the purpose of helping his reputation to get prepared for the upcoming presidential election and create an image of a candidate who is persecuted by the government. What do you think about this option?
– The reality is that Oskanyan is being called to the security office, accused and blamed of doing certain things. He is persecuted. People should come to a conclusion themselves. It is up to them to decide whether he is being persecuted or what the government wants from him.
Aram SARGSYAN