Andranik Tevanian, leader of Mother Armenia, which is contesting the municipal assembly in the Vagharshapat community on a platform critical of the current authorities, said on Wednesday that plainclothes individuals forced blogger Ono Harutiunian, who was standing on a sidewalk with a friend, onto the ground before carrying him away.
“He was physically overpowered and, one could say, thrown into a car. We were later told he was taken to a police station,” Tevanian told reporters.
Police confirmed that the critic of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian had been taken to a local police station and that one person had been arrested on suspicion of hooliganism. A police spokesperson declined to provide further details about the circumstances of the arrest or why the individuals involved were in civilian clothing.
Tevanian alleged that the detention was politically motivated. “He is a well-known blogger in Etchmiadzin who has criticized the ruling Civil Contract party for years and now supports us. This seems intended to create an atmosphere of fear, knowing that they are likely to lose in Vagharshapat,” he said.
Representatives of the authorities deny any pressure on critics and opponents of the ruling party.
A few days earlier, Tevanian reported that law enforcement authorities had opened criminal cases against the first two candidates on the party list, both of whom previously served as mayors of towns under the Pashinian administration.
The opposition has also accused the ruling party of using administrative resources and charity aid for electoral gain ahead of the November 16 vote.
Civil Contract’s acting mayor of Vagharshapat, Argishti Mekhakian, denied any wrongdoing, suggesting that infrastructure repairs are routine work in the community. “If a street needs repaving, we cannot skip it just because it is an election period,” he said.
However, at least one pro-government school principal in the Vagharshapat community has been placed under house arrest amid an investigation into her alleged charity activity following media reports.