Ishkhan Saghatelyan, a member of the Hayastan parliamentary faction and the ARF Supreme Body, commenting on the recent arrests of female opposition politicians, said there is no reason to be surprised by the authorities’ actions. He made the statement in a Facebook video address.
He called on the opposition to organize a unified rally “against the unlawful actions of the ruling power.”
Listing several cases of arrests, Saghatelyan added that despite existing disagreements and the fact that opposition forces will be competitors in the upcoming elections, there are issues that require consolidation.
“There are crucial, priority agenda issues where cooperation is a vital necessity. This concerns jointly resisting the unlawful actions and persecutions of the current authorities, ensuring the release of political prisoners, and carrying out oversight of the upcoming elections. We propose that opposition forces organize a unified rally around these issues to provide an adequate response to the authorities and jointly prevent these unlawful actions,” Saghatelyan said.
On April 14, members of the Strong Armenia party, Gohar Ghumashyan and the head of the party’s Vayk office, Verzhine Stepanyan, who had been detained, were released. Administrative supervision was applied to them.
Ghumashyan was charged under Article 221 of Armenia’s Criminal Code for violating the ban on charity during elections. She did not accept the charge and refused to testify. According to the Investigative Committee, public criminal prosecution was initiated against Stepanyan under Part 3 of Article 236 of the Criminal Code—for coercing or materially incentivizing participation in a gathering.
