Gegham Manukyan Invited to Armenian Police: Clarification from Police

On May 23, 2021, in relation to a statement made by former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan on Facebook stating that "the authorities are openly blackmailing community leaders and business representatives...", an explanation was provided by Gohar Abrahamyan, a consultant to the Prosecutor General of Armenia. In response, user Gegham Manukyan, a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) and the 'Armenia' alliance, made a comment claiming that there are concrete facts available.

To verify the information mentioned in Gevorgyan’s publication and the facts indicated by Manukyan, an assignment was received from the Prosecutor's Office of Yerevan to the Yerevan Department of the Police on May 23, 2021. For verification purposes, Gegham Manukyan was invited to the Yerevan Department of Police. He refused to present any evidence regarding his comment and stated that the Facebook account 'Гехам Манукян' belongs to him. He acknowledged that the comment left under Gohar Abrahamyan's Facebook post is indeed his but clarified that it did not refer to the specific facts presented by former Deputy Prime Minister Armen Gevorgyan, but rather to general violations recorded on a daily basis by official representative Aram Vardevanian of the 'Armenia' alliance. Thus, his comment was of a general nature.

Manukyan also refused to report any apparent criminal offense and provide evidence, arguing that if such incidents occur, they should be submitted to the Central Electoral Commission, and they, in turn, would approach law enforcement agencies if necessary. This indicates that the mentioned comment aimed either to waste the resources of law enforcement agencies or to create public perceptions regarding Gevorgyan’s unfounded post.

The police urge individuals to refrain from making such baseless and unsubstantiated posts and to report any actual facts to law enforcement authorities.