November 9 Case as a Means of Blackmail: 'Hraparak'

‘Hraparak’ writes: “The authorities, alongside opposition actions, have once again begun to apply criminal tools; they are summoning opposition figures related to the cases initiated for storming the National Assembly building on November 9-10, 2020, and assaulting Ararat Mirzoyan, for questioning. Both opposition activists participating in marches and blocking streets, as well as lawmakers like Seyran Ohanyan and Armen Gevorgyan, are being called in. The aim is to intimidate opposition members and temporarily cut them off from actions and street blockades, as they are asked no substantial questions, merely ‘clarifications’ are being made. The case had been frozen for almost a year; now, it seems they have remembered it. One of the first victims is Geraasim Vardanyan from the ARF, who was detained during a street blockade and subsequently arrested under charges of organizing mass disturbances on November 9, 2020, and obstructing a journalist's work. 

It turns out that the NSS has made some changes to the old accusation, tightening it so they have grounds to file a bail request in court. On May 3, the court had rejected the investigator Suren Navoyan's request to detain G. Vardanyan, so the investigator applied a bail of 60 million drams. Since the amount was excessively high, Geraasim could not pay it, indicating that such an unreasonable amount was set intentionally. Following this, a fourth request for detention was submitted to the court and assigned to judge David Arghamanyan, who beat the drum for Pashinyan during the 2018 revolution, who approved investigator Navoyan’s request but imposed a one-month detention instead of two months.”

For more details, see today’s edition of the newspaper.