Investigators File Charges Against Individuals to Satisfy Nikol Pashinyan's Family Vendetta: Tovmasyan

Member of the National Assembly "Honorary Title" faction, Taguhi Tovmasyan, stated: "The investigative bodies of the Republic of Armenia have crossed the line of unprofessional conduct. They have filed charges against individuals for spreading hatred in Tsitsernakaberd, yet many were not even present at the scene.

The incident that took place on April 24 at the eternal flame of the "Tsitsernakaberd" memorial, with the participation of Nikol Pashinyan's wife and daughter, was undoubtedly unpleasant and unacceptable regardless of my stance towards the ruling power. However, the display of political revenge following it is doubly unacceptable by the country's authorities, with people being insulted, violently gathered from the streets, and arrested.

Today, I met with individuals who had been arrested for 72 hours in connection with the Tsitsernakaberd incident. Eight individuals have been subjected to criminal proceedings under part 1 of the second section of Article 329 of the RA Criminal Code (public speech aimed at inciting hatred, discrimination, intolerance or enmity by a group of persons, in preliminary agreement, as well as distributing materials or objects for that purpose). However, among them were people who were not even present at Tsitsernakaberd that day. It is unclear how the investigators came to have direct and justified suspicions that warranted the arrest of eight individuals. It is also unclear why the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Armenia officially reported the arrest of seven individuals when there were eight detainees in the DPV.

Let me present a brief description of my conversations with everyone. Citizen Seda Grigoryan, who said she is a supporter of the AJP and was apprehended on Tumanyan Street, was not present at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial that day and had indisputable evidence to confirm this. She considered the charges against her to be fabricated.

Tigran Chalabyan, who has also been charged under the same article, was indeed on the memorial grounds and stated that he was chanting like the others but did nothing illegal. “I told the police that they are fulfilling a political order. All the guys from the AJP should be released; what kind of imitation of law enforcement are you performing?” Tigran Chalabyan said, requesting the publicity of his words.

Tigran Demoyan, who was wearing an AJP shirt that day, was evidently targeted during the evening march. The 62-year-old citizen was thrown to the ground by police officers in red berets, using violence and insults to take him to the police station. He was charged with the same accusation.

Khachatur Akhsakhalyan was the youngest to be arrested with accusations of inciting hate speech and discrimination. He claimed to have been present at Tsitsernakaberd and, seeing the public outcry, joined the chanting. He committed no other illegal actions. Instead, he was violently apprehended at the intersection of Tumanyan and Mashtots streets, with insults and violence involved. Moreover, one police officer even struck him from behind.

Vahagn Karapetyan was also arrested under the same article, but he was not in the specified area of the memorial during the incident. He had already placed flowers with several friends from the AJP and had gone up. However, this did not prevent him from being apprehended from Tumanyan Street and charged with the article on enmity.

Artavazd Hakobyan was not at the Tsitsernakaberd memorial at all that day. Yet he was also brought to the ground by police in red berets on Tumanyan Street, injured while sitting in a car. As a result of the violence, he had pain above his elbow.

Laura Papikyan was at Tsitsernakaberd and stated that she expressed her outrage upon seeing Anna Hakobyan, as she does not accept Nikol Pashinyan's unilateral policy of giving away lands, having just returned from Tavush. “How can you give your land to the enemy for your child? I said not to surrender our lands, and Anna Hakobyan instructed, 'Take her away,'” she reported, stating that she was apprehended during the evening march on Tumanyan Street, with evident use of violence. When she was already at the police station, her rights were not explained, and she was not given the opportunity to talk with a lawyer.

I noticed that Laura Papikyan's shirt was torn, and she hadn’t even noticed. She claimed her hands hurt from the violence and that her phone was broken.

The case of citizen Hayk Hovhannisyan was the most ridiculous. He came to Yerevan from the village of Hovtashat that day to visit his sister at 39 Tumanyan Street. Seeing the commotion, he stopped to watch. The police demanded that those who were not from the AJP step onto the sidewalk. Hayk stepped up and stood on the sidewalk. When he saw an elderly man being pulled, he fell to the ground, approached to help. At that moment, he too was taken away in a police car with violence and arrested on charges of carrying out apparent acts of hatred, discrimination, intolerance, or animosity by a group of individuals near the eternal flame of the Tsitsernakaberd memorial, although Hayk Hovhannisyan was not even present there that day. Moreover, according to his description, he was one of the stage managers during the days of the 2018 revolution and knew the leadership of the Prosperous Armenia Party very well, considering many of them as friends or former friends.

Thus, to satisfy Nikol Pashinyan's family vendetta, investigators have filed charges against individuals, many of whom were not even present at the scene. Yet they have been deprived of their freedom, and various rights of people have been violated. The opposition’s Nikol Pashinyan would consider the behavior of AJP representatives not as an incitement to hostility or hatred but as public condemnation. However, the situation has changed today...