Authorities Suspend Police Officer Following Incident with Lawmaker

The powers of a police officer have been suspended. This was announced by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

"Following the incident that occurred on May 27 on the Republic Avenue of the capital between an MP and police officers, an internal investigation was initiated within the Ministry of Internal Affairs' internal security and anti-corruption department, which resulted in the suspension of the police officer's powers," the statement said.

Earlier, it was reported that police used force to detain MP Ashot Simonyan near the Armenian Revolutionary Federation office in Yerevan. Published footage shows nearly two dozen police officers surrounding Simonyan, with 1-2 of them striking and pulling the MP.