Attempt to Plant Drugs on Citizen Who Arrived to Parliament on Donkey and Criminal Case Launched

In May, Sevada Ghazaryan from Ijevan came to the National Assembly on a donkey to take Prime Minister Pashinyan for a ride. Following that incident, law enforcement conducted a search at Sevada's home in hopes of finding drugs. Later, he reported that police attempted to plant drugs on him while he was in custody, and a criminal case was initiated.

In an interview with the media outlet «Hraparak», Sevada stated that his criminal case is currently in a 'frozen' state: "The only thing I can assume is that it closely resembles their handwriting, as if to say, 'Look, the case is made; if you mess up again, we will act.' This seems to be the situation. In the last 2-3 months, they have not summoned me for anything. They supposedly found cannabis from me, but I don’t know what happened with that. A criminal case was initiated, and naturally, I refused because I had no connection to it.”

He elaborated that many people from his circle have been called in for questioning: “Many have received calls, those who have interacted with me in the last 5-6 months; they all have been summoned for questioning. They probably want to ask if I am engaging in such activities or using, but I have not been summoned.”

The donkey, which served as transportation, is doing well; however, there was an issue concerning the person who took care of it. “He cut down a tree at one time, and they wrote an act stating that he had committed an illegal act. He is a poor, mentally challenged guy living in the forest. He went to the forest, cut a tree, and brought it to keep warm in winter for his large family. He has mental issues, and there are documents confirming this, which is why he was exempted from the army, yet now he has been detained. He has been in custody for several months now. It has affected me to support his family; we learned that he is a poor guy, and we said, 'Let this donkey be yours, take care of it.'

Sevada is planning new actions but does not want to vocalize them, saying, 'If they know, they will sabotage it.' It should be reminded that in May, the Ijevan resident arrived in Yerevan, specifically to the National Assembly, to take Pashinyan back with him. During the action, police detained the citizen, leaving the donkey alone.