Armenia’s law enforcement authorities have arrested the brother and nephew of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II — Gevorg Nersisyan and his son Hambardzum Nersisyan — on charges of “hooliganism and interfering with election campaigning.” This was confirmed by their lawyer, Ara Zohrabyan.
Zohrabyan stated that the two men are accused of acts of hooliganism and obstructing political campaigning. The Investigative Committee has confirmed that a criminal investigation is underway, and that public prosecution has been initiated under Article 211 of the Armenian Criminal Code, which relates to coercing or otherwise preventing someone from engaging in or refraining from campaign activities. Both men have been detained.
Earlier, Harutyun Mkrtchyan, a candidate from the Republic Party, claimed in a Facebook post that an incident occurred on November 1 at 4:10 p.m. in the village of Voskehat, Vagharshapat, during which Gevorg Nersisyan and his son allegedly disrupted the party’s campaign event.
“These so-called legionnaires deliberately obstructed our political team’s lawful campaign event in the community. They provoked conflicts with our members, inciting them with insults and slander, regardless of age or gender,” wrote Mkrtchyan.
However, lawyer Ara Zohrabyan posted a video on his Facebook page that he says disproves what he calls a “blatant false accusation.”
“They are accused of hooliganism and obstructing a campaign. In reality, the incident doesn’t even resemble a crime. What happened was this: Hambardzum was standing outside his home at around 2:40 p.m. on November 1. A man approached him and invited him to attend a Republic Party event scheduled for 4:00 p.m. Hambardzum declined. The man tried to persuade him. Then Gevorg Nersisyan, Hambardzum’s father, joined the conversation. The three spoke and then parted peacefully.
All of this is recorded. You can clearly see in the video that there is no conflict. This happened outside the Nersisyans’ house, well before the scheduled campaign event.
Dear investigators, as a fellow citizen, I urge you not to damage your institution’s credibility and years of hard-earned reputation. People should not be jailed based on false accusations. This is all temporary,” he wrote.
