"Dashnaktsutyun" activists arrested for bribing protesters

Aleksan Aleksanyan and Aramais Mkhitaryan, activists of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun", have been arrested in the city of Armavir on charges of bribing citizens for participating in protests.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that since April 25, the Armenian opposition has been holding rallies, marches and motor rallies, demanding not to admit a change of the status of Nagorno-Karabakh and resignation of Nikol Pashinyan's government. At protest actions held on May 7, five people were detained and placed under arrest; and the total number of criminal cases brought against protesters increased to twelve. On May 8, relatives of the Armenian soldiers who are kept in captivity in Azerbaijan blocked the Yerevan-Gyumri highway.

On May 8, two members of the ARF "Dashnaktsutyun", Aleksan Aleksanyan and Aramais Mkhitaryan, were arrested in Armavir. They are accused of committing a crime under Article 163 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (obstructing the holding of legitimate meetings, rallies, marches, demonstrations or participation therein, or coercion to participate in them, as well as holding illegal meetings, rallies, marches or demonstrations, committed with the use of violence or threat of the use thereof), the "news.am" has reported.

According to investigators, the detainees had financially motivated residents of the Armavir Region to participate in protests; and the citizens bribed by them in their turn bribed others.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on May 9, 2022 at 04:21 am MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.