Avet Babayan Responds to Journalist's Allegation of Violence

Avet Babayan, acting head of the Public Order Protection Service of the Yerevan Municipality, has responded to a statement made by journalist Hakob Karapetyan.

“In recent days, Hakob Karapetyan has been spreading claims on social media that do not correspond to reality, including that I am somehow connected to the assault that happened to him. I reiterate that I have no connection to the incident and I am confident that the law enforcement agencies will clarify the true circumstances of the case.

I admit that it was wrong on my part to respond to personal slurs with offense in a private message, but I consider it unacceptable to use insults by an expert at a press club. At the same time, I inform that I intend to file a lawsuit against individuals and media outlets that spread falsehoods and defamation about me,” he wrote.

Earlier, Hakob Karapetyan, spokesperson for former Yerevan mayor Hayk Marutyan, reported that while leaving his workplace during dark hours, a masked individual approached him from a corner of the courtyard and began to strike him without saying a word. This incident followed Karapetyan’s commentary on a case involving a woman fined by inspectors from the Yerevan Municipality on a bus, where he expressed his opinion on the matter, specifically noting that “having narrow-minded and incompetent managers is the issue.”