Responding to the arrest of fellow attorney and In Our Way movement member Ruben Mkhitaryan, lawyer Ruben Melikyan wrote on Facebook that “within one week, a second lawyer has been arrested for clearly political reasons.”
Melikyan asserts that such actions are intended to intimidate human rights defenders and attorneys. “In the span of a week, two lawyers have been arrested unlawfully and baselessly, Ruben Mkhitaryan being the second,” he stated.
According to Melikyan, video footage of the October 20 events in Gyumri’s Vardanants Square not only fails to show any evidence of wrongdoing by Mkhitaryan, but actually contradicts the accusations. “Nevertheless, Ruben was detained,” he noted.
He argued that the goal is simple: “To scare us—lawyers and human rights defenders—into reducing or halting our work. To intimidate opposition-minded citizens into withdrawing from political activity. To pressure faithful members of the Armenian Apostolic Church into standing down when the time comes to defend Holy Etchmiadzin.”
Melikyan urged colleagues and the public not to be afraid: “We must recognize that our country is now under a regime worse than that of Gaddafi or Saddam. To be persecuted by such a regime is honorable.”
He also noted that within two days, Armenia’s number of political prisoners had doubled or tripled. “But of course, the ‘priests of democracy’ will neither respond nor condemn it. Still, we must document it. So no one can later claim they didn’t know what was happening in Armenia.”
Ruben Mkhitaryan is charged with participating in mass unrest in Gyumri and obstructing justice or a criminal investigation in coordination with others. Previously, lawyer Kochubayev was also detained for two months.
