The Reason Behind Alexander Kochubei’s Arrest Revealed

A vehicle was stopped, the driver was thrown to the ground, and without a word, his hands were handcuffed before being taken to the Investigative Committee, where they finally disclosed the reasons for such treatment. This is what Alexander Kochubei, now in detention in Vardashen prison, shared with a colleague about the incident in a Facebook post.

According to Kochubei's lawyer, Arayik Nersisyan, "Without any resistance and without saying a word, however, they used force on Kochubei unnecessarily." Nersisyan reported that after a court hearing yesterday regarding the case of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and others, masked employees of the National Security Service surrounded Kochubei’s vehicle. "They immediately threw him to the ground... I would characterize this as another show targeting Kochubei personally, aimed at tarnishing his reputation, and in general, I would also assess this as an attempt to pressure the legal community to demonstrate that, 'lawyers, see, this can happen in case of any free expression,'" Nersisyan noted.

Kochubei, representing opposition interests, is being accused by the Investigative Committee under a statute that pertains to disseminating defamatory information regarding judges, prosecutors, and investigators, thereby harming their interests related to their professional activities. Last night, the court granted the Investigative Committee's request and ordered Kochubei’s detention for two months.

Just the day before, Kochubei had harshly criticized the arrest of another high-ranking clergyman, Bishop Mkrtich Piroshyan, calling investigators, prosecutors, and judges "deviants," "those who sold their souls to the devil," and "dogs of the state." His post, filled with offensive language, has been categorized by law enforcement as a legal violation, sharing defamatory information about investigators, prosecutors, and judges, as emphasized by lawyer Nersisyan. He added, "This is an insult that has been decriminalized; it is not a criminal act. This was merely an assessment; it was not spreading defamatory information, and we cannot characterize it that way."

The fact of Kochubei's arrest and the charges against him for the post have been criticized by his colleagues and human rights defenders.