Mayor Vartan Ghukasian told reporters last month that Armenia should not only repair relations with Russia but also form a “union” with it similar to the European Union while preserving its “independent statehood.”
Pashinian decried Ghukasian’s “statement against the sovereignty of Armenia” when he spoke in the parliament on October 1. He pledged to “throw out” the mayor of the country’s second largest city from “the political and public arena.”
Pashinian’s political allies confirmed afterwards that the premier intends to oust Ghukasian, who became mayor in April after four opposition groups collectively defeated the ruling Civil Contract party in a local election. Their leaders accused Pashinian of seeking to overturn the election results.
Three weeks later, Ghukasian was arrested along with a senior local official and six other individuals on corruption charges rejected by him as politically motivated. It emerged at the weekend that he has also been indicted under a legal clause that makes it a crime to call for a violent overthrow of the constitutional order or violation of the country’s territorial integrity.
One of Ghukasian’s lawyers, Zaruhi Postanjian, dismissed the new accusation, saying that the authorities should have charged Pashinian instead of executing his order. Postanjian claimed that they filed it also because of failing to corroborate their bribery charges levelled against her client. None of the other suspects in the bribery case has given incriminating testimony against him, she told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Ghukasian’s October 20 arrest sparked angry protests by his supporters some of whom clashed with security forces sent from Yerevan. At least 41 of them were prosecuted for participating in “mass disturbances” and obstructing justice in a clampdown strongly condemned by the Armenian opposition. The Investigative Committee said on Saturday that 24 suspects, including two senior municipality officials, have been remanded in pre-trial custody and 15 others placed under arrest pending investigation.