Opposition figure Narek Samsonyan charged, lawyer says
Law-enforcement authorities indicted opposition figure Narek Samsonyan shortly after his arrest on Friday, his lawyer Ruben Melikyan revealed.
Samsonyan was brutally taken away by police officers near his home in Yerevan on Friday morning. The Investigative Committee later said he was accused of “hooliganism”. His fellow activist Vazgen Sagatelyan was arrested later today.
The two men, who are vocal critics of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, are the hosts of Imnemnimi Podcast.
In an interview to Panorama.am, Melikyan dismissed the charges against Narek Samsonyan as absurd and politically motivated.
“In fact, he has been charged for swearing during an Imnemnimi Podcast episode,” he noted.
“This is an outright political persecution and is aimed at stifling the dissent,” the lawyer stressed.