Mobile phone footage posted online showed road police officers notifying senior officials from the mayor’s office about the seizure outside the municipality building. One of the officers said the car must be taken away because an ownership document does not indicate that it is armored. The police are understood to have left the scene moments later.
The Armenian Interior Ministry said later in the day that Ghukasian must make sure that the car undergoes a special technical evaluation by October 17. The ministry also accused the car’s driver of violating traffic rules. It did not specify those violations strongly denied by the municipal administration.
“The distance from [the mayor’s] house to the city hall is 300 meters … It is impossible to violate traffic rules there,” read a statement released by the municipality.
Ghukasian, who has ridden the bulletproof BMW since narrowly surviving an assassination attempt in 2007, held a news conference to condemn the police actions and claim that they are part of government attempts to oust him.
Pashinian pledged to “throw out” Ghukasian from “the political and public arena” during his government’s question-and-answer session in the Armenian parliament on October 1. He responded to Ghukasian’s latest calls for the government to repair and deepen its relations Russia, saying that they are directed at Armenia’s “sovereignty.”
Pashinian’s political allies confirmed afterwards that the premier intends to depose the outspoken mayor, who took office in April this year following the ruling Civil Contract party’s defeat in a local election. One of them said Ghukasian will be ousted by “the people of Gyumri.” But he did not elaborate.
Ghukasian claimed on Tuesday that the authorities are planning to arrest him and one of his deputies in a bid to seize power in Gyumri. While reiterating that he is not afraid of imprisonment, he urged local residents to be ready to take to the streets and “stand by my side.”
The 64-year-old mayor, who had also governed the city from 1999 to 2012, is already facing a number of criminal charges rejected by him as politically motivated.