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MP Tadevos Avetisyan of the opposition Hayastan alliance met with his fellow MP Mher Sahakyan in his place of detention along with lawmakers Ashot Simonyan and Argishti Gevorgyan last night.

Sahakyan was detained for allegedly assaulting senior pro-government lawmaker Vladimir Vardanyan at a closed meeting of the parliament committee on legal affairs on Friday morning.

Sahakyan’s lawyer, Ruben Melikyan, claimed his client acted in self-defense. In a statement, the Hayastan faction also blamed Vardanyan’s “provocative and unbalanced behavior” for the incident.

In a social media post, Avetisyan said the detained MP was in a high mood. He denounced Sahakyan’s detention as “politically motivated”.

“Obviously, Mher Sahakyan’s detention is based on an order issued by the incumbent authorities,” he wrote, accusing the law enforcement authorities of double standards.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee has three days to decide whether to indict the oppositionist and ask the parliament to strip him of immunity from prosecution.