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Opposition activist and public figure Avetik Chalabyan has been released from custody after more than two months of arrest.

He walked free from the Armavir prison immediately after his arrest period expired late on Wednesday.

Coming out of the penitentiary, the oppositionist thanked all those who supported him, his family as well as his lawyers and the media.

He promised to hold a news conference in the near future, but did not rule out that judge Arusyak Aleksanyan presiding over the trial may again order his arrest.

Chalabyan, a co-founder of the Arar Foundation and a member of the Consolidation Movement, was placed under arrest on 14 May for allegedly trying to pay students of the Armenian National Agrarian University to participate in anti-government protests in Yerevan.

The charges are based on a leaked audio of parts of conversations he and an Agrarian University lecturer had with the chairman of the university student council, Tornik Aliyan. The Investigative Committee claims Chalabyan offered 2 million drams to him for the presence of 2,000 students at opposition protests.

Chalabyan denies any wrongdoing, calling his prosecution politically motivated.