News - Anush Hambardzumyan, the chairman of the election commission, was arrested in connection with violating the ban on charitable activities.

The director of the secondary school in Geghakert village of the Khoy community, Anush Hambardzumyan, a member of the Civil Contract party, has been arrested. Marina Ohanyan, spokesperson for the Anti-Corruption Committee, told Hetq in an interview that a petition to detain Hambardzumyan has been submitted to the court. Based on data obtained from operational-investigative measures conducted by the Anti-Corruption Committee, a criminal case has been initiated in connection with a violation of the ban on charitable activity. Within the criminal proceedings, one person has been arrested, and a petition to apply detention as a preventive measure has been submitted to the court, according to Ohanyan. Note that the NewDay news site published a video days ago showing Hambardzumyan distributing aid to citizens in front of her house. This has been linked to charitable acts ahead of the Vagharshapat community elections, which is prohibited by law. Later Hambardzumyan posted a clarification on her Facebook page stating that she is the president of the Empowerment of Women, Youth and Education NGO, and that this aid was not the first time she has distributed. Some media outlets, without taking into account the many charitable volunteer works the person has carried out over the years, try to present it differently, which has nothing to do with reality. The latest project I had to undertake, because Kamurjak asked for accountability from donor organizations, and if I had refused, 60 students would have been deprived of warm shoes and clothes. Guided by a high sense of mind and conscience, which is necessary for parents in difficult social circumstances, I agreed. It is the eighth program in 2025. As president of the Empowerment NGO for Women, Youth and Education, since 2021 I have been collaborating with Ms. Maria Gorisi, president of the Kamurjak social charitable NGO. We carry out millions of social programs annually in the Khoy community, and most importantly, all this is funded by the assistance provided by the Kamurjak NGO. The beneficiaries are socially vulnerable and in difficult social conditions. I have not published any beneficiary's photo, but on my own social page I have published all the work I have done. Not the first time that Hambardzumyan has shown behavior that is not in line with her office and against the law. Hetq had written that Hambardzumyan, while serving as chair of the commission, not only posted on her Facebook page a campaign post featuring Argishti Mekhakyan, the first on the Civil Contract list, but also pinned it to her social page so it would be seen first. When we asked Hambardzumyan for clarification, she subsequently removed the campaign image.