Recently, through the media and social networks, information about giving hidden electoral bribes, material resources under the pretext of hiring political personnel from party forces of the blocs or candidates participating in the upcoming elections. We consider it necessary to clarify that, according to the amendments made to the Criminal Code of September 7, 2018, it is criminalized not only for giving a bribe and taking it in favor of voting or not voting for a particular candidate, or refusing to participate in elections, or voting more than once, or voting for another person, but also violating the ban on charity throughout the election period, as well as the provision of goods to the voters by any means free of charge or on a privileged basis, the provision of any services "
In the Criminal Code of these kind of violations are qualified as serious crimes and imply criminal liability under p. 5 art. 154.2 of the RA Criminal Code, and impose a sentence of imprisonment from 2 to 6 years.
Within the framework of the authority, the RA Prosecutor’s office is committed to taking any steps to verify any kind of information about bribing voters, if necessary, to give instructions on conducting large-scale operational and intelligence activities, through the implementation of the relevant judicial procedure in order to fully disclose the electoral crimes. "It should be noted that recent legislative amendments have provided the structures authorized to carry out operational intelligence activities with the necessary legal capabilities, through large-scale measures to find out the real circumstances of any hidden case. These capabilities will be fully implemented in practice in accordance with the law, we urge the political forces participating in the extraordinary parliamentary elections to refrain from such attempts to influence electoral processes, gain competitive advantage. We call on citizens who are witnesses of such actions or who have reliable information to contact the RA General Prosecutor's Office or other law enforcement agencies.
