Children of Aram Sargsyan, Arrested in the 'Gagik Soghomonyan' Case, Prohibited from Visiting Their Father

Attorney Benik Galstyan visited Aram Sargsyan, who has been detained for "unexplainable reasons" in connection with the 'Gagik Soghomonyan' case. "Aram, a father of three minor children, continues to remain imprisoned on absurd charges, which suggest that his only connection to 'Gagik Soghomonyan' is that on February 18 and 19, he accessed the internet from Armenia using the same IP address through the ProtonVPN application, with which in October 2020, the user 'Gagik Soghomonyan' logged into Facebook. Moreover, Aram did not log into Facebook; he accessed YouTube. Additionally, many dozens of individuals connected to the internet from that address in Armenia on February 18 and 19, but for some reason, only Aram has been arrested. I don't even want to talk about the legal aspects of the charges. It's a complete absurdity. It is enough to say that Aram Sargsyan is also detained under Article 307.4 of the RA Criminal Code. My legal colleagues and journalists understand very well what this is about. However, it is more challenging to explain to Aram Sargsyan's family members what case Aram is being detained for. It is also impossible to explain to Aram's three minor children why the investigator has forbidden them from visiting their father. By the way, Aram's youngest child turned 5 years old yesterday," the lawyer wrote on his Facebook page.

The NSS had conducted searches in the offices of Ara Sagatelyan, analyst Karen Bekaryan, Azerbaijan expert Angela Elibegova, and constitutional expert Gohar Meloyan, seizing phones and computers, after which they were detained. Angela Elibegova and Gohar Meloyan were released, while Karen Bekaryan, Ara Sagatelyan, Mher Avagyan, and Aram Sargsyan were arrested. Mher Avagyan and Karen Bekaryan have been released, while Aram Sargsyan and Ara Sagatelyan remain detained.

The NSS had issued a statement regarding the details of this case, stating that Sagatelyan, Bekaryan, Avagyan, and Sargsyan were arrested based on Article 226 (inciting national, racial, or religious hatred by an organized group), Article 226.2 (public calls for violence by an organized group, justifying or promoting violence publicly), and Article 307.4 (violating the rules of publishing or disseminating information during a state of war) of the RA Criminal Code.