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Staffers of AntiFake media outlet and their supporters on Tuesday staged a protest outside the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan, urging its employees to break their silence over the Armenian government crackdown on the right to freedom of speech and take practical measures to restore it.

They highlighted that opposition activists Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, co-hosts of the Imnemnimi podcast aired on AntiFake TV, were given two-month pretrial detention on 22 March on charges of hooliganism after using slur language to criticize Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his regime for their plans to make territorial concessions to Azerbaijan.

Narek Samsonyan, chair of Civic Consciousness NGO and founder of AntiFake, was arrested with excessive and unnecessary use of force by police.

"Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan were detained based on the infamous “grave insult” article which was decriminalized following pressure from the international community, but the government revived its content in the Penal Code as “hooliganism”,” the protesters underscored.

They stated that international organizations and structures, including the U.S. Embassy, which previously issued multiple statements on democracy setbacks, restrictions on frees speech, political prisoners and persecution in Armenia, have not publicly denounced the detention of the two bloggers for criticizing the authorities.

“The U.S. Embassy in Armenia has not reacted to the imprisonment of Armen Ashotyan, Narek Malyan and Mamikon Aslanyan, who are facing persecution for political reasons,” the staff said.