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Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s son, Ashot Pashinyan, has confirmed that he was not tricked into getting into the car of Gayane Hakobyan, whose son Zhora Martirosyan was killed in the 2020 Artsakh war.

The woman has been charged with attempting to “kidnap” Ashot Pashinyan on 17 May. The Shengavit District Court of General Jurisdiction in Yerevan approved her pre-trial detention for one month on May 20, triggering protests by several dozen other parents of fallen soldiers and their supporters.

The Yerevan appellate court overturned the woman’s detention and replaced it with house arrest on Monday.

"I was not coerced, I got into Mrs. Gayane's car of my own free will,” the premier’s son told reporters before the preliminary court hearings in the case.

“My kidnapping started from the moment I wanted to get out of the car, but Mrs. Gayane did not let me out," he claimed.

Ashot Pashinyan stated he expressed readiness to meet with the fallen soldier’s mother and talk to her anytime, but said the woman wanted to drive the car towards the Yerablur Military Pantheon against his will. Pashinyan reportedly jumped out of the car as its speed decreased at an intersection in Yerevan.

Separately, he refuted the claims of fallen soldiers’ relatives that he apologized to them for his parent’s actions and called them “Turks”.

"They are an absolute lie, nothing like that happened and could have happened,” he added.