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Former Chief of Armenia’s Compulsory Enforcement Service Mihran Poghosyan has reportedly requested political asylum in Russia, citing fears of political persecution in his home country.

Poghosyan’s lawyer Michail Yamchitsky who is also the head of the Chamber of Advocates of Karelia has told the local sources that Poghosyan has all the grounds to request asylum and can appeal the extradition decision by the Russian Prosecutor’s office once made.

He has also informed that according to the Russian legislation the decision of extradition is made by the Prosecutor General or his deputy, while political asylum requests are granted by presidential decree.

Armenia's Prosecutor's Office earlier reported it had sent all necessary documents to Russian law enforcement bodies to facilitate the extradition.

To remind, Russian law enforcement officers detained Mihran Poghosyan prosecuted on corruption charges on April 22. The ex-official was found in the Russian Republic of Karelia. A Yerevan court on Monday allowed the SIS to arrest Poghosyan after he was charged with abusing his powers to enrich himself and companies linked to him.