Askeran mayor placed under house arrest
Hayk Shamiryan, the exiled mayor of the Artsakh town of Askeran, has been placed under house arrest, his lawyers Vahe Yeprikyan and Aram Vardevanyan reported on Friday.
“Presiding judge Razmik Marikyan partially granted the investigator’s motion to impose house arrest as a measure of restraint against our client, Askeran Mayor Hayk Shamiryan,” they said in a statement posted on social media.
Shamiryan was arrested after law enforcement officers raided his home late on Thursday.
In a Facebook live video, human rights activist Ruben Melikyan denounced the mayor's prosecution as politically motivated, claiming it was attributed to his active involvement in protests held by the Tavush for the Homeland movement and a meeting with its leader Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan.