The legal team representing Spartak Ghukasyan, son of Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan, issued a statement expressing serious concern over what they describe as politically motivated attempts to fabricate legal grounds for his detention.
“We have strong suspicions that, amid pressure being exerted on Gyumri community head Vardan Ghukasyan, led by the country’s top leadership, artificial reasons are being prepared to arrest his son, Spartak Ghukasyan,” the statement reads.
They say the authorities are attempting to claim that Spartak violated the conditions of his house arrest, despite no such violations having occurred.
According to the defense, the Probation Service has recorded frequent signal loss from electronic monitoring devices at Ghukasyan’s residence, but this is now being misrepresented.
“It appears this technical issue will be used as a pretext to claim he breached the terms of his preventive measure,” the statement continues.
The team also condemned what they called “unacceptable pressure tactics,” such as early morning police visits and attempts to enter the family’s home on allegedly false grounds.
“The defense team expresses deep concern over the politicized and unlawful use of legal mechanisms and urges law enforcement to act strictly within the bounds of the law,” they added.
The statement is signed by attorneys Aramayis Hayrapetyan, Hovhannes Gharakeshishyan, and Zaruhi Postanjyan.
Spartak Ghukasyan is under public criminal prosecution under Article 258, Part 1, Clause 4 of Armenia’s Criminal Code (extortion by means of coercion), within the framework of an investigation launched by the Shirak regional division of the Investigative Committee.
