Mayor Vartan Ghukasian, the city’s chief architect and six other persons were arrested three weeks after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian pledged to oust him. They all are facing corruption accusations. Ghukasian rejects the charges as politically motivated
Security forces met with strong resistance from hundreds of Ghukasian’s supporters when they raided the municipal administration building in order to demonstratively detain him. The Armenian police had to send reinforcements, including its main riot police units, from Yerevan to overcome that resistance. They clashed with protesters both inside and outside the building.
At least 33 protesters were arrested on the spot or in the following hours as the Investigative Committee launched an inquiry into “mass disturbances” and obstruction of justice. It also arrested on Wednesday morning the acting head of a municipality division, an adviser to Ghukasian and two members of the city council representing the mayor’s political faction.
The law-enforcement agency said later in the day that it has already indicted 29 suspects and asked courts to remand 19 of them in pre-trial custody. It did not name the suspects or say whether the eight other detainees will be set free.
“The charges are almost identical for all of them, and it is not specified what specific actions a person allegedly committed,” Hayk Harutiunian, a lawyer representing four indicted persons, told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Harutiunian said the Investigative Committee of ignoring footage disproving its claims that some of the protesters “interfered in the investigation of the case” by assaulting law-enforcement officers and damaging their cars.
The suspects include not only local officials and political figures but also a dozen or so drivers of garbage trucks and other vehicles belonging to the municipality’s utility department. The vehicles reportedly blocked streets leading to the mayor’s office during Monday’s crackdown condemned by the Armenian opposition.
The crackdown came three weeks after Pashinian said he will “throw out” Ghukasian from “the political and public arena.” He responded to Ghukasian’s latest calls for his government to not only repair but also deepen its relations Russia, saying that they are directed at Armenia’s “sovereignty.” Pashinian’s political allies confirmed afterwards that the premier intends to oust Ghukasian.
Speaking in the parliament on Wednesday, the prime minister denied, however, any connection between Ghukasian’s prosecution and his October 1 pledge to oust the opposition mayor.
“They say that Vartan Ghukasian was arrested because of my thoughts,” he said. “Vartan Ghukasian was arrested because of his thoughts and actions. What do my thoughts have to do with that?”
Ghukasian was installed as mayor by four opposition groups that collectively won a majority of seats in the city council in a local election held on March 30. The election results were a serious setback for Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
Opposition leaders say Pashinian is now trying to overturn them. They also claim that the arrests of Ghukasian and dozens of his supporters are designed to discourage disgruntled Armenians from trying to change their government through elections. Armenia is due to hold a showdown general election next June.
A Yerevan court that sanctioned Ghukasian’s pre-trial arrest on Tuesday also suspended him as mayor. The country’s second largest city will be run by Ghukasian’s first deputy and son-in-law, Avetis Arakelian, for the time being.
