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The speaker of the Armenian National Assembly, Alen Simonyan, has come under fire for his disrespectful behavior towards Garen Megerdichian, a Diasporan repatriate.

An altercation occurred between them in the Cascade in downtown Yerevan on Sunday. Upon seeing Simonyan and his security personnel in the area, Megerdichian shouted “traitor” at him. The speaker ordered his security guards to approach the man and grab his hands. Simonyan then swore at him and spit in his face. Megerdichian was subsequently taken to a police department and later released, the opposition said.

Opposition Pativ Unem faction MP Hayk Mamijanyan and his fellow MP from the opposition Hayastan faction, Aspram Krpeyan, showed support for Mgerdichian following the incident. They visited the Central Police Department to meet with him and discuss the matter, warning against fabricated charges against him.

Lawyer Sos Hakobyan took to Facebook to denounce Alen Simonyan for his “disgraceful” behavior.

“Alen Simonyan must be held to account for hooliganism,” he said.

Hayastan MP Kristine Vardanyan also condemned the incident.

“This is all you need to know about the Armenian "democracy" and freedom of speech in the country – in fact, Nikol Pashinyan’s dictatorship,” she stated.