Gyumri mayor Vardan Ghukasyan said his son Spartak’s arrest is really aimed at him, vowing to fight “by all legal means” for his release.
Commenting on the case, Ghukasyan told reporters at the municipality that authorities would not break him with such actions. “You won’t break me with this. Even if you break my body, you won’t break my spirit. You don’t keep a country by beating people, but by love and by giving life,” he said.
He described the case as a challenge for his family, adding that he struggles to look into his grandchildren’s eyes, knowing it is being done because of him. Ghukasyan argued that such moves only expose the authorities’ political defeat.
He said his son was named Spartak as the symbol of freedom, and stressed he would never bow or change sides: “My stance will never change. I will fight for my son’s freedom by every legal means,” the mayor declared, accusing the government of being unable to accept its electoral loss in Gyumri.
Ghukasyan also claimed that the case concerns only 90,000 drams’ worth of construction material occupying 24 square meters, which was not even listed in municipal records. According to him, Spartak has been remanded for two months.
Lawyer Arsen Babayan stated that the arrest took place in front of Spartak’s 1.5-year-old child, calling it an act of intimidation: “You couldn’t arrest him elsewhere? The only aim is to keep people in a constant atmosphere of fear. This is governmental terror against the Armenian people,” Babayan wrote on Facebook.
In Gyumri’s March 30 municipal elections, the Civil Contract party won 14 seats, the Communist Party 8, the Our City bloc 6, My Strong Community 3, and Mother Armenia 2. On April 16, with support from alliances, Vardan Ghukasian was re-elected mayor.
