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The mayor of Meghri, a town in Armenia’s Syunik Province, has been arrested for “hooliganism”, former Syunik Governor Vahe Hakobyan, the head of the Reviving Armenia party, told reporters outside the Investigative Committee on Thursday, denouncing the move as “illegal”.

"At the moment, Mayor of Meghri Mkhitar Zakaryan is being illegally arrested and facing groundless charges related to hooliganism, which is absolute nonsense,” he said.

The ex-governor stated the arrest is a result of the efforts of the authorities’ “repressive machine”, which is trying to “break our spirit”.

"But they won’t succeed. In this regard, I would like to announce that at 6:30pm today we are going to hold a rally near the Republic Square Metro station, close to the Aram Manukyan statue to decide on our further steps,” Hakobyan said.

Speaking about the footage showing how Shurnukh resident Ararat Aghabekyan was taken to the Investigative Committee, he said: “Ararat Aghabekyan is a participant in three wars. During the recent war, he did not come home for months, refusing to leave the trench. He has health issues. These bastards won't get away with it. I am referring to the police officers and investigators, who did it to please [PM] Nikol [Pashinyan],” the former governor said.

He believes that Ararat Aghabekyan will be arrested as well.