Pashinian was targeted by the man, Albert Arstamian, in August as he visited a relative in Yerevan. The apple was thrown from an apartment block located in the same neighborhood as he walked through its courtyard.
Police detained Arstamian hours after the incident. He was later charged with “hooliganism” and released from custody pending investigation. He will face heavy fines and/or a prison sentence of up to two years if found guilty.
In his court testimony, Arstamian defended his action, saying that it was a legitimate “protest” against Pashinian’s policies which he believes led to Azerbaijan’s recapture of Karabakh and the mass exodus of the region’s ethnic Armenian population.
“[Pashinian] came to Stepanakert [in 2019] and said, standing just three meters from me, that Karabakh is Armenia,” he told the court. “Then he came here and said Karabakh is Azerbaijan.”
Arstamian said that he noticed Pashinian from the balcony of a ninth-floor apartment rented by his family moments after watching TV images of the prime minister riding a bicycle and treating himself to a famous meat dish. He said he was enraged by the footage and hurled the apple to express his anger. The defendant denied the accusation levelled against him, arguing that the red apple did not hit Pashinian or any of his bodyguards.
One of the bodyguards, Grigor Manukian, was called up as a witness in the trial. He testified that the incident did not “disrupt” the work of Pashinian’s security detail.
The incident was not the first of its kind. In April 2023, law-enforcement authorities arrested and charged a woman who threw her umbrella at Pashinian during the prime minister’s visit to a village in Armenia’s southeastern Vayots Dzor province. Although the woman was set free shortly afterwards, she stood trial and received a suspended 2-year prison sentence. A local court also ruled in May this year that the umbrella must be confiscated and destroyed.