One more detained in alleged attempt to assassinate Armenian PM over Karabakh truce

Arrests continue in a case that involves an alleged plot to assassinate Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and plans to take over the government.

The charge was brought against the commander of the Sisakan volunteer detachment, Ashot Minasyan, better known as Ashot Yerkat (Iron Ashot).

Earlier, the former director of the National Security Service of Armenia and the head of the Hayrenik (Motherland) opposition party Artur Vnetsyan was detained in the same case.

The court in Yerevan found the decision to detain Minasyan justified. He will remain in custody.

While the hearing was going on, hundreds of people, including Minasyan’s army colleagues, held a protest action in the courtyard of the court.

The war veterans chanted ‘Nikol the traitor’, and demanded that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan be ‘brought to justice under the laws of wartime.’

The protesters stated that they consider the case against their comrade-in-arms one of political persecution.

According to Ashot Minasyan’s son, the reason for the persecution is the statements of his father, who demanded ‘to bring to justice the traitor Nikol Pashinyan, who sold 80% of Artsakh.’

Since November 10, when the Karabakh truce to end hostilities in the disputed territory was signed, the opposition and thousands of people took to the streets of Yerevan demanding the prime minister’s resignation, claiming the head of state had ‘entered into a treacherous conspiracy and signed a document on the voluntary surrender of Karabakh to Azerbaijan.’

On November 14, the National Security Service announced that it had succeeded in preventing an attempt to assassinate Nikol Pashinyan and the seizure of the state  A group of people is suspected in the criminal conspiracy.