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ARF Armenia Chair Ishkhan Saghatelyan, an MP from the opposition Hayastan bloc, has slammed PM Nikol Pashinyan and his team for the decision to ban Suneh Abrahamian, a young ARF activist from the Netherlands, and her father Masis Abrahamian, head of the Armenian National Committee of the Netherlands, from entering the country on Sunday.

“Upon arriving at the airport in Armenia to participate in the ARF Youth Office voluntary camps in Syunik, I was immediately put in a small room and interrogated. After taking my passport and keeping me for 12 hours without any explanation, I was informed that my entry to my homeland was rejected and I am a persona non grata for the Armenian authorities,” Suneh wrote on Facebook.

Shortly afterwards, Armenia’s security officials also denied entry to her father.

"The populist killer aspires to become a dictator,” Saghatelyan said on Facebook on Monday. “Without power (please do not confuse position with power) and legitimacy, Nikol seeks to establish an authoritarian regime.”

“As history shows, all populists of the world turn into dictators at some point, because they can no longer keep their grip on power through lies and falsehoods. And here we go: disgraceful prosecutions, political prisoners, more and more trumped-up criminal charges, servile courts and law enforcement system,” the lawmaker wrote.

He also criticized law enforcement officers for fulfilling Pashinyan’s orders.

“Never forget that populists don't survive long in any country of the world. Armenia is no exception,” Saghatelyan said.