Participants of the rallies in support of the mayor of Goris Arush Arushanyan, who is accused of voter bribery, called his case political and accused the authorities of trying to isolate those who disagree.
On December 21, 2020, residents of the Syunik region blocked the road to prevent the arrival of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. On the same day, the mayor of the city of Goris, Arush Arushanyan, was detained, who urged the townspeople to take part in this action, but on December 22, 2020, the court found his arrest unreasonable. On July 7, Arushanyan was again detained and arrested on charges of bribery of voters. On November 6, the court granted the petition of the defence, which asked to allow Arushanyan to visit with his relatives. Arushanyan's supporters demanded his release at the rally near the courthouse.
The trial in the case of Goris Mayor Arusha Arushanyan continued in the Goris Court of First Instance. The hearings were held against the backdrop of a rally by his supporters.
The defence will submit a petition to change the measure of restraint for his client, lawyer Erik Aleksanyan said live. He noted that Arusha Arushanyan does not admit to the charges against him, claiming that the case has political overtones. "Arushanyan was isolated so that he would not interfere with the decisions of the authorities that contradict state interests. It is a priority for us to achieve a change in the preventive measure. But pressure is being exerted on the judge, so any decision of the court for the defence is expected," the lawyer said.
The action demanding a fair trial was held by the deputies of the "Armenia" faction in front of the Supreme Judicial Council in Yerevan. The protesters held posters with an inscription in Armenian, Russian and English stating "Freedom for political prisoners," as well as posters saying "Stop telephone justice," "Judges, do not be afraid," and "Syunik is in danger."
The head of the Supreme Judicial Council Gagik Jhangiryan is following the political instruction of the authorities, Deputy of the "Armenia" faction Aregnaz Manukyan told reporters. “They are trying to break the protest movement with political arrests so that the authorities are not shackled in making anti-state decisions,” she said.
The head of the Karahunj village, Lusine Avetyan, is also accused of voter bribery. Avetyan was arrested on July 9 and released on bail on July 20. Also in July, the head of the Kajaran community Manvel Paramazyan, the head of the Sisian community Artur Sargsyan and the former Mayor of Meghri Mkhitar Zakaryan were arrested. The opposition is confident that the persecution of community heads in the Syunik region is related to the results of early parliamentary elections. On October 7, the Yerevan court cancelled the decision of the National Security Service of Armenia to suspend the powers of Kajaran Mayor Manvel Paramazyan.
