By Karine Simonian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Ten more supporters of billionaire and opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan were arrested over the weekend after confronting members of Armenia’s ruling Civil Contract party in disputed circumstances.
The incidents took place in two villages in Armenia’s northern Lori province close to Karapetyan’s hometown of Tashir. Videos posted on social media showed scores of his supporters waving flags and chanting “Samvel Prime Minister!” during a Civil Contract procession led by Defense Minister Suren Papikian. Papikian can be seen urging them to “open the road” before telling the police to take action against the “hooligans” and promising to teach their leaders a “political lesson.”
Armenia’s Investigative Committee reported ten arrests in the following hours. It accused the Karapetyan supporters of deliberately trying to disrupt the ruling party’s campaign rallies. It claimed that they blocked a road with cars in one of the villages and “turned on loud music” and assaulted Civil Contract campaigners in the other.
The law-enforcement agency told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service on Monday, March 18, that six of the suspects have been remanded in pretrial custody and another moved to house arrest. The status of the three other detainees remained unclear.
Meanwhile, Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia bloc condemned the arrests and demanded the immediate release of the ten persons. The gatherings of Strong Armenia supporters coincided with the Civil Contract rallies, it said, accusing the ruling party of staging a pre-planned “provocation.” A senior member of the bloc, Gohar Meloyan, released a short video that seemingly showed a group of Civil Contract members charging towards Karapetyan supporters demonstrating on a roadside.
