Armenian parliament discusses draft law envisaging more serious criminal responsibility for giving bribes during elections

ArmInfo. The National Assembly of Armenia, at an extraordinary meeting on September 6, discusses amendments to the Criminal Code that provide for the strengthening of criminal responsibility for giving bribes during elections.

Introducing the draft law, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Armenia Artur Hovhannisyan noted that the document proposes to increase fines for violations during the elections, which will amount to not less than 100 thousand drams. The government, as the deputy minister stressed, decided to minimize and subsequently prevent influence and pressure on voters during the election campaign period, and the legislative package is aimed precisely at implementing this goal.  "We really have to ensure that citizens can vote freely and easily," the Deputy Minister said. He explained that it is proposed to prohibit any charitable activity during the pre-election campaign.  In addition, it is envisaged to punish not only the bribery of voters, but also the promise to give bribes. For such proposals, it is proposed to set a fine from 100,000 to 400,000 drams, or imprisonment for up to five years. At the same time, it is proposed to consider as bribery not only money, but also other material goods, including food products, which corresponds to the standards of the Group of States against Corruption, the Council of Europe's anti-corruption  body (GRECO).

It is also proposed to criminalize and toughen punishment in cases not only of offering bribes, but also falsification of election results, the theft of ballot boxes and signed lists. At the same time, a person who has received a bribe is released from criminal liability if, prior to receiving information about the crime committed by law enforcement agencies, but no later than three days after receiving the bribe, he voluntarily informed law enforcement authorities and assisted in uncovering the crime. Also from the criminal prosecution will be released a person who voluntarily provided data on the case of a repeat vote, or voting for another person. Previously, Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, noting the importance of adopting this document, added that due to this a phenomenon as bribery can be eliminated. "In this regard, the elections in the Council of Elders of Yerevan will be a very important exam for us, and we must pass it perfectly," the head of government said.