MOSCOW, June 9. /TASS/. The parliamentary elections held in Armenia on June 7 were inherently unfair, as the authorities exerted pressure on the opposition, the head of the Center for International Interaction and Cooperation, Areg Agasaryan, Deputy Chairman of the Public Council under Rossotrudnichestvo (Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad and International Humanitarian Cooperation - TASS), has stated.
"Undoubtedly, the elections were inherently unfair due to the obstacles created by the authorities. Unprecedented pressure was exerted on the opposition. Continuous arrests of Samvel Karapetyan and his associates, [former] mayor of Gyumri - Vardan Ghukasyan, archbishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, arrests in all opposition parties, and mass criminal cases. For example, against Gagik Tsarukyan. On the eve of the elections, all this pursued one goal - to paralyze campaigning work," he said at a round table organized by the Expert Institute for Social Studies "Parliamentary Elections in Armenia: Has the Republic Lost the Battle for the Future," dedicated to discussing the results of the elections to the National Assembly of Armenia and possible scenarios for the development of Russian-Armenian relations.
