Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Calls Gyumri Mayor’s Arrest Armenia’s Internal Affair
Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova — official portrait Date: 19 February 2016 Source: Own work Author: Suren Licensing: This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that the recent events in Gyumri and the arrest of Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan are Armenia’s internal matter, while adding that Moscow is closely monitoring the situation, Orda.kz reports, citing NewsArmenia.AM.
As for the detention of the city’s mayor, this is, of course, Armenia’s internal affair. At the same time, we note that earlier, criminal cases were initiated against the heads of Vanadzor, Berd, Goris, and other communities, some of whom were arrested,
Zakharova said at a briefing on Thursday.
She expressed hope that these developments would not undermine the independence of Armenia’s judiciary or public trust in it:
We hope such processes will not lead to a rift between the judiciary and the people or to a loss of trust— something the prime minister himself recently called a systemic problem.
Zakharova also noted that Gyumri, Armenia’s second-largest city, hosts Russia’s 102nd military base, a Russian Consulate, and a Rossotrudnichestvo office.
We treat Russian-Armenian relations with care and always stand by those who advocate close ties between our brotherly nations,
she added.
Background
Ghukasyan, the city’s chief architect, and six other officials are under investigation by Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee on extortion and bribery charges. The mayor was detained on October 20 after a large police operation outside the city hall, during which minor clashes broke out.
Armenian authorities have since charged 29 people in connection with the unrest, according to Armenpress. Initial reports indicated that 33 were arrested, with the total reaching at least 37.
According to his lawyer, Aramais Harutyunyan, Ghukasyan denies all accusations.
“Of the six or seven episodes in the case, only one relates to his time as mayor,” Harutyunyan said.
Under Armenian law, all suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty by a final court verdict.
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