The mayor of an Armenian town has again been arrested on charges stemming from violent attacks on opposition supporters who protested against the country’s longtime leader, Serzh Sarkisian, in April.
Mayor Davit Hambardzumian of Masis was already detained and charged in late May with organizing one such assault in Yerevan’s Erebuni district on April 22. Hundreds of supporters of Nikol Pashinian, the main organizer of mass protests against Sarkisian’s continued rule, were attacked there by several dozen masked men wielding sticks and even electric shock guns.
Hambardzumian, who is affiliated with Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK), denied any involvement in the violence. A court in Yerevan refused to allow investigators to keep him and four other suspects in pre-trial detention. They all were set free three days after their arrest.
Two weeks ago, Armenia’s Investigative Committee alleged the 32-year-old mayor’s involvement in another violent incident reported later on April 22.
Residents of the southern Ararat province encompassing Masis were assaulted by a smaller group of other individuals as they marched to Yerevan to take part in an anti-government rally. Four protesters sustained major injuries as a result. One of them was shot and wounded.
Hambardzumian was arrested for a second time late on Friday. The court promptly agreed to remand him as well as his brother Gor in pre-trial custody this time around.
Gor Hambardzumian stands accused of violence against the Ararat residents as well as a separate act of “hooliganism” in Yerevan where he was caught on camera assaulting other protesters blocking a major street.
A lawyer for the brothers, Zorayr Harutiunian, on Saturday condemned their arrest as illegal. He insisted that investigators have failed to come up with any compelling evidence in support of the accusations.
The lawyer said that Davit Hambardzumian was not at the scene of attack on the protesters in Erebuni. As for the other incident, the mayor went there to “ease tensions,” rather than beat up or bully the Ararat residents headed to Yerevan, he claimed.
Similar attacks were also reported in other parts of the Armenian capital during the anti-Sarkisian protest movement. Pashinian’s political team blamed the HHK for them. The former ruling party denied any involvement.
Hambardzumian was elected mayor of Masis, a small town about 10 kilometers south of Yerevan, with the HHK’s help in 2016. Some Armenian media outlets have previously implicated him in other instances of politically motivated violence.
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