Prosecutor's Office Appeals Ara Saghatelyan's Release from Detention: Lawyer

The lawyer of Ara Saghatelyan, the former head-secretary of the National Assembly of Armenia, Mihran Poghosyan, wrote on his Facebook page: "The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia has decided to continue the saga of Facebook user 'Gagik Soghomonyan' regarding Ara Saghatelyan by appealing the ruling of the appellate criminal court that ordered the release of Ara Saghatelyan from detention. This appeal was as unexpected for Ara Saghatelyan's legal team as it was incomprehensible from a legal standpoint.

It was incomprehensible because the judicial act of the appellate criminal court, which had a high degree of justification and reasoning, was sufficient to expose the nonsensical and elementary investigation carried out by the NSS investigative department regarding this criminal case, which had no basic understanding of VPNs and IP addresses. However, it was expected because, over the past three years, the investigative bodies and the prosecutor’s office have pursued individuals in any high-profile criminal case in a way that is not at all based on the law or evidence obtained from the criminal case, but rather is exclusively conditioned by the ruling political power and its leader’s attitude towards that individual.

Moreover, Ara Saghatelyan's recent stern but undoubtedly justified criticism of Nikol Pashinyan and his supporters leaves Nikol Pashinyan and the prosecutor's office with no alternative but to continue attempts to deprive Ara Saghatelyan of his freedom at all costs.

Note: Some officials continue to insist that they are 'not users, but users.'"