A List Existed Indicating Individuals' Positions and Connections Within the ARF, Affecting Detention Severity: Lawyer

Mass arrests have been carried out in a completely unlawful and illegal manner. This was stated by lawyer Arsen Babayan at a press conference in the office of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF).

“From the very beginning, it was clear that the arrests and the subsequent requests for detention were dependent on specific individuals’ party affiliation and their positions and connections within the ARF,” he noted.

Arsen Babayan emphasized that there was a list that detailed names alongside their status within the ARF office, their connections, and capabilities, and based on this, the most stringent preventive measures were determined.

“In the courts, efforts were made to obtain testimonies that were favorable to them by any means. The desired testimony was for someone to declare that money was indeed distributed. Specific attempts were made by high-ranking officials in the regional police administrations towards several individuals, offering them in police stations to give such testimonies and stating that, in that case, they would be immediately released,” the lawyer pointed out.

Arsen Babayan stressed that those who received such offers are all currently detained, which indicates that they did not agree to provide such testimonies because no such circumstances existed.