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Armenia’s former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan has dismissed the charges brought against him as “politically motivated”.

In a statement on Thursday, the Prosecutor General’s Office said that Sargsyan, who served as defense minister from 2016-2018, had been charged with abuse of power in connection with the distribution of housing to Armenian army officers.

The law enforcement agency claimed that he illegally ordered a Defense Ministry commission to allocate 29 apartments in Yerevan to military personnel and ministry officials who were not down in the official waiting list for the houses. It has asked a Yerevan court to allow the arrest of Sargsyan, who currently lives in the United States.

Sargsyan denied any wrongdoing in a social media post, urging the authorities to release the names of those who were provided with housing and their military track records.

“It’s simply disgusting,” he wrote, adding the Prosecutor’s Office deprived him of the opportunity to protect his rights without even trying to contact him.

“This is nothing but a political persecution and an outright violation of human rights, which all oppositionists have been facing for many years,” Sargsyan stated.