The violence occurred during an ill-tempered meeting of the parliament committee on legal affairs held on March 31. It reportedly followed a shouting match between Vladimir Vartanian, the committee chairman, and Mher Sahakian of the main opposition Hayastan alliance.
Sahakian was detained by police but set free three days later. He said he hit Vartanian because the latter spoke disrespectfully and then stood up and walked menacingly towards him. Vartanian, who represents Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, denied that, saying the assault was unprovoked.
Vardapetian backed the pro-government parliamentarian’s version of events when she asked the National Assembly on Tuesday to lift Sahakian’s immunity from prosecution. The chief prosecutor insisted that there was “no necessary self-defense” in his violent conduct.
“I have the impression that you only read only Vladimir Vartanian’s testimony when drawing up the indictment,” Sahakian countered during a parliament debate.
The lawmaker affiliated with the main opposition Hayastan alliance again denied any wrongdoing and said the criminal case is politically motivated. He said he is ready to stand trial on “hooliganism” charges that will be brought against him.
Other opposition parliamentarians voiced support for the 35-year-old. They also accused the Armenian authorities of double standards, arguing that pro-government deputies were not prosecuted after assaulting opposition colleagues on the parliament floor in 2021.
As recently as last week, the authorities faced calls to launch a criminal investigation into parliament speaker Alen Simonian, who spat at an opposition heckler, and other pro-government deputies, who shouted verbal abuse and threats at an opposition candidate for the vacant post of Armenia’s human rights defender. One of those deputies publicly pledged to “cut the tongues and ears of anyone” who would make disparaging comments about the 2018 “velvet revolution” that brought Pashinian to power.
The Office of the Prosecutor-General has not ordered criminal investigations into either incident.
Sahakian is the third Hayastan deputy indicted in the last two months. The two others, Seyran Ohanian and Armen Charchian, are facing separate criminal charges rejected by them as politically motivated. None of them will likely go to jail if convicted.