The ruling Civil Contract party has expelled MP Hovik Aghazaryan from the party over alleged leaks of confidential information. 

The announcement on Tuesday said Aghazaryan was expelled ‘due to leaks of confidential information of state and party significance, as well as gross violations of public moral norms’.

The party did not elaborate further on what was meant by ‘gross violations of public moral norms’, only providing vague information about the content of Aghazaryan’s private chats disseminated amongst the ruling party that was obtained from a phone seized from Aghazaryan.

In an address to Parliament, Aghazaryan said he was leaving the Civil Contract ‘with great pain’. He also apologised to his colleagues ‘for causing even the slightest damage to the team’s reputation with my behaviour’.

He said he did not rule out that he may have said something ‘that should not have been said’, during some of his conversations, but added that he did not recall any incident in which he intentionally leaked information. 

Aghazaryan was already facing criminal proceedings over allegations he had interfered in an investigation into his son. 

On 15 October, Aghazaryan reprimanded the then chair of the Investigative Committee, Argishti Kyaramyan, telling him to speak respectfully to MPs.

In response, Kyaramyan claimed that Aghazaryan had contacted him at least twice about a criminal case involving Aghazaryan’s son, which Aghazaryan denied.

Following the incident, Pashinyan requested that several officials, including Aghazaryan, step down as MPs, which Aghazaryan rejected on Monday.

Hindered peace talks by leaks

Aghazaryan told reporters that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had access to personal communications from his phone, which was handed over to the authorities as part of the criminal investigation into him.

Aghazaryan said that his phone had not been returned to him for over 10 days, and that the investigators told him they were only interested in phone calls related to that criminal case. 

‘It turns out that my phone was opened, and the data appeared in the hands of the Prime Minister. I don’t know who gave it to [him], for what purpose,’ Aghazaryan said, adding that the contents of some of his messages were discussed at a Tuesday session of the Civil Contract party.

On Wednesday, Pashinyan said investigators had found information that ‘contained threats to state security, including counterintelligence threats’ on the phone. 

‘And that body was obliged to do its job and was obliged to report to its superior, the Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia’, he said, adding that all legal means would be used to deprive Aghazaryan of his seat in parliament. 

The next day, Parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan accused Aghazaryan of hindering the peace talks at some stages as a result of his leaks.

The contents of the phone that disturbed the ruling party remains unclear. 

The party has only provided vague information about the other reason for expelling Aghazaryan from the party — violating ‘public moral norms’ — with Parliamentary speaker Alen Simonyan saying he was so shocked he could not finish reading the material provided to him.  

Asked by journalists about if it was about having an extra-marital affair, Aghazaryan responded by asking if having a mistress was a crime. He also did not exclude that people from ‘special services’ reached out to him, and they had heated conversations and  ‘they said something, and I gave a response’.

Simonyan suggested that Aghazaryan involved others' names and discredited them in his personal chats.

On Thursday, Alen Simonyan announced that other members of the party were suspected of leaking information and stated that they would hold an investigation.