Aramayis Hayrapetian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service that Ghukasian was taken to a hospital in Yerevan the previous night for a medical examination meant to determine whether he does need to be released from prison on health grounds pending a verdict in his ongoing corruption trial.
Hayrapetian and other defense lawyers have repeatedly demanded his release since his arrest on October 20, saying that the mayor suffers from multiple chronic diseases. Prosecutors and judges have dismissed those demands. A Yerevan court extended Ghukasian’s arrest by three months at the start of the trial on December 17.
Ghukasian, who will turn 65 later this month, was already taken to a hospital in November following a reported surge in his blood pressure. He spent a few days there.
Ghukasian was arrested on bribery charges denied by him three weeks after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian pledged to oust him from “the political and public arena.” His arrest sparked angry protests in and outside Gyumri’s municipal administration building. Over 40 Ghukasian supporters were charged in the following days with participating in “mass disturbances.”
Later in October, law-enforcement authorities brought another criminal charge against the outspoken mayor stemming from his calls for Armenia to form a “union” with Russia while preserving its “independent statehood.” Pashinian decried that “statement against the sovereignty of Armenia.” Investigators unexpectedly dropped the charge last week.
Gyumri’s new municipal council appointed Ghukasian as mayor in April after four opposition groups collectively defeated the ruling Civil Contract party in a local election. Armenian opposition leaders claim that Pashinian ordered his prosecution in a bid to overturn the election results. The premier has dismissed these claims.
Dozens of other critics of the government, including three archbishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, have also been arrested in recent months. The authorities deny that they are political prisoners.