Former NA Chief of Staff Ara Saghatelyan arrested

The Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan, chaired by judge Armine Meliksetyan, published the defender’s appeal against the decision to arrest former RA National Assembly Chief of Staff Ara Saghatelyan, as well as the decision of the National security service investigator on the motion to detain him.

According to the court decision, Saghatelyan will remain in custody. According to his lawyer, although the court recognized the arrest decision illegal, two-month detention was chosen as a precautionary measure.

It should be noted that the National Security Service arrested former Chief of Staff of the National Assembly Ara Saghatelyan, co-founder of “Qaryak Media” Karen Bekaryan, manager of the “International Center for Parliamentarism Development” NGO Mher Avagyan, and citizen Aram Sargsyan in order to expose fake Facebook user Gagik Soghomonyan. Aram Sargsyan was arrested today by the court decision, Mher Avagyan was released, and the decision on Karen Bekaryan will be published tomorrow.

They were arrested under Articles 226.2 of the RA Criminal Code (inciting national, racial or religious hostility by an organized group), 226.2 (public calls for violence by an organized group, public justification or propaganda of violence), Articles 307.4 (violation of the rules of publication or spread of information during the legal regime of martial law).