Protest in support of detained Mother Armenia party rep held outside  RA Prosecutor General`s Office

ArmInfo. A protest in support of the detained Mother Armenia party leader Andranik Tevanyan and board member Aregnaz Manukyan was held outside the Prosecutor General's  Office and then outside the government building. Mother Armenia party  member Derenik Malkhasyan posted a video from the scene on his  Facebook page.

Protesters chanted "Freedom for all political prisoners" and "Shame,"  addressing all those who carry out political orders. Manuk Sukiasyan,  head of the Mother Armenia faction in the Yerevan City Council,  expressed his conviction that the case against Tevanyan and Manukyan  is politically motivated. He believes his main goal is to isolate  Tevanyan, who advocated for maintaining good relations with Russia.  "This is nothing less than political persecution. We call on those  who follow the authorities' orders to be guided solely by the law.  Because in the future, you will answer for everything you do today,"  Sukiasyan noted.

He emphasized that they demand the authorities stop interfering in  the case and allow the judge to make his own decision. "Allow the  judge to freely choose a measure other than imprisonment. So that all  Armenian political prisoners can return to their families. We also  call for an open court hearing so that the public can see what is  really happening," the faction leader concluded.

As a reminder, on May 21, the Investigative Committee of Armenia  announced the opening of a criminal case against Andranik Tevanyan  for "treason and espionage." Tevanyan is accused of transferring  information containing state secrets to a foreign state for $622,000.  On the night of May 24, Tevanyan was placed under two-month pretrial  detention by court order. Moreover, according to Tevanyan's lawyer,  Aram Orbelyan, there were no legal grounds for his client's detention  at the time. It should be added that the opposition figure's  detention occurred on the direct orders of current Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Tevanyan himself called the investigation's  allegations absurd, noting that he resigned his parliamentary mandate  in 2023 and, therefore, such allegations by the Investigative  Committee are baseless. On July 9, Aregnaz Manukyan, a member of the  Mother Armenia party's political council and former member of the  Armenian parliament, was arrested and subsequently placed under two  months' arrest. According to the Investigative Committee, a public  criminal prosecution has been instituted against Aregnaz Manukyan  under Part 1 of Article 427 of the Criminal Code (disclosure of  information containing a state secret). The investigation was  conducted as part of a criminal case involving espionage and treason,  in which Andranik Tevanyan, the leader of the Mother Armenia party,  was previously arrested. Manukyan is suspected of passing classified  information regarding the Armenian Armed Forces to Tevanyan, which  was presented at a closed parliamentary meeting.

On August 18, the investigation concluded, and the materials were  sent to court. However, both Tevanyan and Manukyan remain in pretrial  detention. The criminal case has been assigned to Judge John  Hayrapetyan of the Yerevan Criminal Court.