Blogger Artak Avetisyan, who shouted “Nikol, traitor!” during a Civil Contract party campaign event in Yerevan’s Shengavit district, has been placed in pretrial detention for one month. The information was confirmed by the Investigative Committee, Factor.am reported.
On May 15, the Investigative Committee announced that public criminal prosecution had been launched against blogger Artak Avetisyan over statements made in a Facebook video allegedly inciting hatred, discrimination and hostility. He was detained, and investigators petitioned the court to impose detention as a preventive measure.
A video circulated online showed law enforcement officers taking the man into custody, while his relatives claimed he had not resisted and that police actions had been violent.
A Facebook user, Aram Harutyunyan, had published a video in which the citizen, before being detained, addressed Nikol Pashinyan with harsh and insulting remarks, introducing himself as “Artak from Shengavit” and declaring that he was waiting for the prime minister in Shengavit. “…Gather your crazy people and come to Shengavit,” he said in the video.
