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Armenia’s law enforcement authorities have decided to detain Artur Sukoyan, an aide to opposition Hayastan faction MP Levon Kocharyan, following Tuesday’s incident involving him and Civic.am reporter Davit Levonyan, lawyers revealed.

The journalist claims Sukoyan hit him for his report regarding Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Primate of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church. According to opposition deputies, the journalist used foul language which sparked a scuffle between them.

In a statement on Wednesday, Sukoyan’s lawyers Alexander Kochubayev and Erik Aleksanyan said law enforcement agencies refused to hear any explanations he sought to provide regarding the incident.

“Today, we’ve learned that there is a decision to detain Artur Sukoyan. That is, without listening to the man, they've decided to detain him,” the lawyers noted.

They called attention to the police brutality against journalists on Tuesday, highlighting no arrests had been made after the incident. 

“No one has been detained in other known cases of violence against media workers,” the lawyers underscored.

They insisted that the incident was not linked to Davit Levonyan’s journalistic activities and the dispute between the two men was personal.