Armen Ashotyan's lawyers seek meeting with French ambassador
Opposition politician Armen Ashotyan’s lawyers have requested a meeting with French Ambassador to Armenia Olivier Decottignies on his “political persecution”.
Ashotyan, deputy chair of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), has been placed in pre-trial detention since 16 June on charges of abuse of power and money laundering strongly denied by him as politically motivated.
His lawyer Ruben Melikyan sent a letter to the French envoy asking for a meeting on behalf of Ashotyan’s legal team on Monday.
"We intend to share with Mr. Ambassador the details of Armen Ashotyan’s political persecution and hope that this information will be useful for assessing the real attitude of the Armenian authorities towards democratic values,” he said in a social media post.
The lawyer recalled that Ashotyan was honored with the French premier’s award back in 2015 when he served as Armenia’s education minister.