Tevanyan: The purpose of closed sessions on the "case" of representatives of "Mother Armenia" is to avoid wide publicity of its anti-Russian orientation

ArmInfo. The hearing on the "case" of the Mother Armenia party representatives is being held behind closed doors to avoid publicizing its anti-Russian nature. This statement was made by Mother Armenia party leader Andranik Tevanyan from the Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary. The statement was published by the political party's press service on its Facebook page.

The opposition figure noted that they were prohibited from disclosing details of this "case." Meanwhile, Tevanyan noted that the Public Television of Armenia (PTA) continues to spread lies, reviving accusations that the investigative bodies have already dropped.

In this regard, he decided to point out the reasons why Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is holding their trial behind closed doors. "The brazen lies trumpeted during the pre-election period have collapsed, and he wants the truth to be known to as few people as possible. He still hopes to benefit from the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) and does not want to publicize this anti-Russian 'case,' otherwise it will look like Armenia is officially and pompously declaring war on Russia," the party leader explained.

However, according to Tevanyan, since this case concerns Armenia's security architecture and Armenian-Russian relations, the public should know what "accusations" have been brought and what consequences Pashinyan's latest anti-state, anti-Armenian adventure could lead to. Speaking about what this "case" is about, he noted that, according to the Armenian prime minister, being a political figure and holding anti-government views constitutes treason and espionage. As Tevanyan clarified, this sentence is taken from the final part of the indictment against him. Furthermore, he said, according to the same indictment, it is treason to view Russia not as an enemy but as a strategic ally, to advocate for the development of Armenian-Russian relations, and to oppose the withdrawal of the 102nd Russian military base from Gyumri.

"Furthermore, to oppose turning the border demarcation and delimitation process into an exercise of unilateral concessions on Armenia's part, to oppose serving the Turkish-Azerbaijani agenda, and to advocate for delimitation and demarcation based on agreed-upon, clear maps. This is an unprecedented geopolitical trial. In the history of independent Armenia, there has never been a case where contacts with Russian political and expert circles were assessed as espionage for a hostile state. This is precisely what I am accused of." With this case, Pashinyan officially becomes the "Armenian Zelensky," Tevanyan believes.

In this regard, he recalled that in Ukraine, contacts with Russia are considered espionage and treason, and, according to him, the Armenian Prime Minister is now doing the same. "Based on this, the court must decide whether Armenia is on the path of Ukrainization, that is, turning into ruins, or not. The court must decide whether Armenia remains a state or is turning into so-called 'Western Azerbaijan.' And third, the court must also determine whether opposition political activity in Armenia constitutes treason or not. There are no other questions in this 'case,'" the politician 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 arrest by court order. Moreover, according to Tevanyan's lawyer, Aram Orbelyan, there were no legal grounds for his client's arrest 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 groundless. On July 9, Aregnaz Manukyan, a member of the political council of the Mother Armenia party and former member of the Armenian parliament, was arrested and then placed under two-month arrest. According to the Investigative Committee, a public criminal prosecution has been initiated against Aregnaz Manukyan under Part 1 of Article 427 of the Criminal Code (disclosure of information containing a state secret). The investigative actions were carried out as part of a criminal case of espionage and treason, in which Andranik Tevanyan, 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 meeting in parliament.

On August 18, the investigation into the case was completed, and the materials were sent to court, but both Tevanyan and Manukyan remain in pretrial detention. On September 8, the court extended Tevanyan's pretrial detention for another three months, and Manukyan's for another month.