I have no reason to worry: Former NSS Director's response to Pashinyan's accusations

Former NSS Director Mikael Hanbardzumyan, in an interview with NEWS.am, referred to Nikol Pashinyan's statement made at a press conference.

-Yesterday, Nikol Pashinyan, referring to the case initiated against Robert Kocharyan, noted that the criminal case cannot drag on for 8 years.

In this context, he also referred to you: "Maybe you took money, or do you think we won't come after you?" Do you think it is possible that a case will be initiated against you as well?

I agree with the Prime Minister one hundred percent that a criminal case cannot be investigated for eight years in a row, especially cases of an economic or property nature, when there are documentary grounds.

The terms of preliminary investigation of criminal cases are established by law, and they cannot be extended unreasonably and arbitrarily.

I have to repeat once again: when examining a case with an investigator, detention is issued by a judge, and no one should be detained if they have participated in the preliminary investigation in good faith for 8 years, that is, there are no new grounds. This is an axiom without additional commentary. After all, we believe that we live in a free and legal country, otherwise, what was the point of 2018...

As for the possible criminal prosecution of me, I believed in 2018, I was convinced that our Homeland really needs changes, and that is why I worked with dedication.

In my assessment, having dealt with recovery transactions worth tens of billions of drams, I did not allow corruption risks, the same applies to my service before that, therefore I have no reason to worry.