“Strong Armenia” called the detention of its supporters in Stepanavan amid the upcoming local self-government elections a manifestation of dictatorship

Arminfo.  The Strong Armenia party called the detention of its supporters in Stepanavan an act of dictatorship and urged residents of the community not to succumb to the pressure exerted by the Armenian authorities and to participate in the vote in the local self-government elections scheduled for October 25.

The political force made the statement on Facebook following searches and the detention of supporters of businessman Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia movement that began in the morning. “Today we witnessed yet another manifestation of violations of electoral processes by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Just a few days before the local self-government elections, Arsen Gevorgyan, the Strong Armenia party’s mayoral candidate, and 14 of his supporters were arrested in Stepanavan,” the party recalled.

Strong Armenia drew attention to the fact that the authorities used recordings from hidden cameras for this purpose and distributed edited videos. “This is not democracy. This is a dangerous practice of abusing the law and state institutions in order to retain power at any cost, when accusations are made before the facts are established and political reprisal is presented as justice. We are witnessing the same antidemocratic working style for which European institutions criticized Pashinyan’s government after the June parliamentary elections. According to the latest report by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), violations were recorded at almost half of the polling stations. Pashinyan speaks of democratic elections, but his actions are characteristic of a dictator,” the party believes.

The political force emphasized that these arrests are not only antidemocratic, but also run counter to the interests of Stepanavan citizens seeking change. Strong Armenia expressed the conviction that in this way Pashinyan is seeking to gain complete control over Armenia in order to be able to fulfill all the demands of Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and make further concessions. The party called the “Trump Route” (TRIPP) project one of these concessions that are disadvantageous to Armenia, noting that it serves the interests of Azerbaijan, not Armenia. “Such concessions will not bring peace, but will only lead to new aggression from Azerbaijan. Change will come; it is near, despite Pashinyan’s actions. We call on Stepanavan voters not to be afraid and to participate in the vote. Your vote is secret, and it is precisely thanks to your participation that change can begin in Stepanavan,” the party concluded.

Earlier, Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee reported that 14 people had been detained on charges of giving electoral bribes, aiding in this, and receiving bribes. According to the agency, “the bribes were distributed by the candidate heading the list of the Strong Armenia party in the upcoming elections to the Council of Elders of the enlarged Stepanavan community.” In connection with this, criminal proceedings were initiated by the Anti-Corruption Committee.

It was earlier reported that Armenian parliament member Andranik Gevorgyan, representing the opposition Strong Armenia faction, said on his Facebook page that mass searches and detentions of supporters of businessman Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia movement had been taking place in Stepanavan since early morning. The day before, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had invited those citizens and candidates for community heads in the local self-government elections who were facing pressure from the ruling Civil Contract force to write to him personally. But by that evening, he himself had begun threatening representatives of the opposition forces. It is noteworthy that all this is taking place ahead of the local self-government elections in Stepanavan, which will be held on October 25.