YEREVAN, MARCH 16, ARMENPRESS. According to Member of Parliament Taguhi Tovmasyan, Interpol rejected the Armenian authorities’ request to issue a red notice for ex-official Gevorg Kostanyan.

Tovmasyan, citing documents which she said were the paperwork sent by the Interpol General Secretariat to the Interpol National Bureau in Armenia, claimed that the motion of the Armenian authorities was turned down because it contradicted Article 3 of the Interpol Constitution, which states: “It is strictly forbidden for the Organization to undertake any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.”

“This means that Kostanyan’s case was considered to be political and the information about this person was withdrawn from the Interpol database,” Tovmasyan told reporters.

ARMENPRESS wasn't immediately able to validate the documents obtained by the lawmaker. 

Kostanyan, a former prosecutor general, is indicted in Armenia on charges of abuse of power and falsification of documents as part of the ongoing criminal investigation into the 2008 March 1 unrest.

Kostanyan was the deputy minister of justice in 2008 and then went on to become Assistant to the President. He then served as the Military Prosecutor of Armenia.

He denies any wrongdoing.

Law enforcement agencies weren’t immediately available for comment.

Editing and Translating by Stepan Kocharyan