Armenia toughens punishment for bribing voters

The Armenian parliament adopted legislative amendments in the final reading that toughen the punishment for bribing voters.

The legislative amendments were submitted to parliament for consideration by its speaker Alen Simonyan and deputies from the ruling Civil Contract faction Arusyak Julhakyan, Alkhas Kazaryan and Vahagn Aleksanyan in the first half of May, shortly before the parliamentary elections held on June 7, Armenian media report.

According to the adopted amendments, the prison term for receiving a pre-election bribe has been increased from one to three years to two to five years, and the term for giving a bribe from three to six years to four to eight years. The prison term for violating the ban on charity during the pre-election period has increased from three to six years to four to eight years. In addition, persons convicted of receiving or mediating the giving of a pre-election bribe are, according to the new amendments, permanently prohibited from holding state and municipal positions.

On May 14, Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Alen Simonyan announced that the ruling party had initiated legislative changes toughening the punishment for bribing voters.

The regular parliamentary elections in Armenia were held on June 7, with 18 political forces participating, including the Civil Contract party led by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, as well as two blocs: Armenia (Hayastan) led by former President Robert Kocharyan and Strong Armenia led by Narek Karapetyan. The Strong Armenia bloc, established by businessman Samvel Karapetyan, included the parties Strong Armenia, New Era and United Armenians. The elections were held with numerous violations and falsifications. According to the voting results, the Civil Contract party received 49.7456% of the votes, the Strong Armenia bloc 23.2710%, and the Armenia bloc 9.9231%.