President of the 'Black Panther' Patriotic Organization Arrested: Statement

The president of the 'Black Panther' patriotic public organization, Serob Gasparyan, who participated in the First and Second Artsakh Wars, has been arrested. The legal team has issued a statement: 'As you already know, Serob Gasparyan is facing criminal prosecution for allegedly preparing for the usurpation of power, and the chosen measure of restraint is detention. Our legal team asserts that the accusation is illegal, does not stem from the factual data collected in the case, and that there are no proper risks justifying the detention measure. We consider the criminal prosecution to be unjustified. At the same time, we are not rushing to see a political component in the accusations. In our understanding, certain officials in law enforcement agencies wanted to emphasize their commitment to service and have “uncovered” the preparation for the crime of usurpation of power for the political authorities. For the sake of not obstructing the investigation, this is currently our only statement.' Lawyers: Erik Aleksanyan, Gurgen Grigoryan, Aleksandr Kochubayev.