Hambardzumian was sent to prison late last month to serve a more than six-year prison sentence handed to him by a court in a ruling condemned by his Republican Party (HHK) and other opposition groups. He was found guilty of assaulting some participants of massive antigovernment rallies that brought Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian to power in 2018.
The 39-year-old, who has run Masis since 2016, denied the accusation throughout his six-year trial. He was jailed and stripped of his post despite appealing against the verdict.
Hambardzumian’s HHK-linked bloc holds a majority of seats in the Masis council that appointed First Deputy Mayor Norayr Hakobian as his successor.
The HHK claims that the Armenian authorities want to scuttle its declared plans to put forward a parliamentary motion of no confidence in Pashinian. The party headed by former President Serzh Sarkisian proposed Hambardzumian’s candidacy for the post of prime minister in June. The deposed mayor has pledged to continue to fight for regime change despite his imprisonment.
Earlier in October, the opposition mayor of Armenia’s second largest city of Gyumri, Vartan Ghukasian, was arrested on corruption charges strongly denied by him. The arrest sparked angry protests by Ghukasian’s supporters who clashed with security forces sent from Yerevan. At least 26 of them remain under arrest on charges stemming from what law-enforcement authorities call “mass disturbances.”