Home Arrest Imposed on Blogger for Insulting Prime Minister Pashinyan

The well-known TikTok blogger Haik Yeghiyan has been placed under house arrest and prohibited from leaving his home for insulting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. This information was disclosed by his lawyer, Roman Yeritsyan.

The decision was made by Judge Aram Martirosyan of the General Jurisdiction Court of Gegharkunik Province. According to the lawyer, the act attributed to Haik is subject to a fine or community service under the law, while the Investigative Committee had requested imprisonment as a precautionary measure.

Yeritsyan stated that Haik Yeghiyan suffers from several health issues incompatible with imprisonment and receives prescribed medication, including painkillers and psychotropic drugs. He is exempt from military service in both peacetime and wartime conditions. He lives in a village with his wife and grandmother, who has a first-degree disability, and he is her sole caregiver.

According to the defense, the Investigative Committee has charged him with hooliganism and requested imprisonment after he clapped and yelled “bravo” towards an individual who had directed offensive remarks at Prime Minister Pashinyan on TikTok. Additionally, Haik has made critical statements against the Prime Minister, accusing him of desecrating the Supreme Patriarch and clergymen.

The lawyer stated that after a four-hour hearing on the imprisonment request, the court's decision is expected to be announced at the Sevan Court, presided over by Judge Aram Martirosyan. Yeritsyan emphasized that the defense presented substantial arguments regarding the lack of reasonable doubt regarding the hooliganism charge, the absence of grounds for applying precautionary measures, and the inadmissibility of imprisonment.