The incident occurred during a heated debate in the National Assembly on opposition demands for a parliamentary inquiry into the alleged misuse of funds collected by a government-backed pan-Armenian charity for Nagorno-Karabakh during last year’s war with Azerbaijan.
Vigen Khachatrian, a deputy from the ruling Civil Contract party, accused the parliamentary opposition of trying to discredit the Hayastan All-Armenian Fund and the Armenian government with various “abominations.”
Gegham Manukian of the main opposition Hayastan alliance responded by recalling and condemning Khachatrian’s recent remark that continued Armenian control over Karabakh is not vital for Armenia.
“He who renounces Artsakh (Karabakh) is a traitor,” Manukian charged on the parliament floor.
Ruben Rubinian, the parliament’s pro-government deputy speaker chairing the session, accused Manukian of breaching “ethical rules” before switching off his microphone and ordering uninformed officers of the State Protection Service (SPS) to forcibly remove the prominent oppositionist from the podium. The session was interrupted as a result.
Manukian stood by his statement and accused the authorities of trying to stifle free speech in the parliament when he spoke with journalists after the incident.
Alen Simonian, the parliament speaker and a leading member of the ruling party, routinely interrupted and reprimanded opposition deputies strongly criticizing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during sessions of the National Assembly held in August.
Simonian claimed that they insulted Pashinian. He ordered SPS officers to remove from the chamber one of those lawmakers who continued to attack the prime minister on August 24.
Hayastan and another opposition group represented in the current parliament have accused the authorities of illegally restricting free speech on the parliament floor for the first time in Armenia’s post-Soviet history.
The SPS is a security agency primarily tasked providing bodyguards to Armenia’s top state officials. Scores of its uniformed officers were deployed inside the parliament building this summer.
They set up checkpoints and placed metal detectors at the entrances to the main parliament auditorium. Acting on Simonian’s orders, they also made sure that parliamentary correspondents can no longer interview deputies coming out of the chamber or approach the offices of lawmakers representing Pashinian’s party.