The punishment for bribing voters in Armenia has been tightened.
Amendments to the Criminal Code of Armenia, initiated by the Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan and a number of deputies from the ruling party "Civil Contract", were approved today at an extraordinary session of the National Assembly.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", the Parliament of Armenia introduced restrictions on participation in elections and referendums for voters living outside the country on the day of the last session.
Seven parties have challenged the final decision of the Central Election Commission regarding the parliamentary elections in Armenia in the Constitutional Court. The decision is to be announced no later than July 4. The applicants have presented all grounds for reviewing the election results, but the authorities raised the salaries of the judges of the Constitutional Court before the elections, which could be related to possible lawsuits challenging the results, the opposition indicated.
The National Assembly of Armenia, at an extraordinary session on Friday, adopted the amendments to the Criminal Code of Armenia in the second and final reading, reports "News Armenia".
Deputy and member of the "Civil Contract" party Vaagn Aleksanyan stated that the punishment for giving, receiving bribes, and mediating in the bribery of voters has been tightened. Strict professional restrictions will also be established for individuals who commit such crimes.
"Bribing voters remains one of the main threats to the democratic system, as it violates the free will of citizens and reduces public trust in electoral processes," noted Aleksanyan.
Individuals convicted of bribing voters will be permanently deprived of the right to hold positions in state and municipal service, as well as administrative and discretionary positions. The restriction will apply regardless of whether the conviction has been expunged or lifted.
According to the amendments, the maximum prison term for bribing voters has been increased from 3-6 to 4-8 years. For bribery committed by prior agreement, the punishment has been increased from 4-8 to 5-10 years. A similar punishment is provided for mediating in the transfer of a bribe, reports News.am.
For receiving pre-election bribes, the prison term has been increased from 1-3 to 2-5 years, and when the crime is committed by prior agreement – from 3-7 to 4-8 years. In addition, for violating the ban on charity during the election campaign, the maximum prison term has been increased from 3-6 to 4-8 years.
The publication notes that the parliamentary opposition did not participate in the voting.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that searches took place at the home of the board member of the "Mother Armenia" party, political scientist Yervand Bozoyan. Law enforcement also reported the detention of representatives of the "Strong Armenia" party in Gavar for pre-election bribery cases. Reports emerged against the backdrop of awaiting the Constitutional Court's decision on the results of the parliamentary elections.
The "Prosperous Armenia" party of oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan, the "Armenia" bloc of former president Robert Kocharyan, and the "Strong Armenia" bloc of entrepreneur Samvel Karapetyan are among the parties that have challenged the results of the parliamentary elections in the Constitutional Court of Armenia. They are also noted to be the most pro-Russian participants in the parliamentary elections in Armenia, analysts previously indicated.
The parliamentary elections effectively became a referendum on the future of the current government and Armenia's foreign policy course. A reference titled "Elections 2026 in the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia" has been published on "Caucasian Knot".