My Godfather': Alen Simonyan on Arrested Owner of TV 5

Today, the first court session of the March 1 case began at the Avan and Nor Nork branch of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction. A tense situation arose in the courthouse yard, where an incident occurred between supporters of Robert Kocharyan and civil activist Vardges Gasparyan. He was hit with a bottle, and his banner was torn. Gasparyan yelled, 'Robik, scoundrel, Robik, murderer.'

As a result of the clash, four individuals have been arrested by the police, one of whom is Armen Tavadyan, the owner of '5th Channel' and the godfather of Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Alen Simonyan. According to circulating rumors, he is attempting to mediate for the release of his godfather from police custody.

In an interview with MediaLab, Alen Simonyan noted that he has been in Moscow for several days and will only return to Armenia tomorrow. 'I haven’t spoken to anyone regarding what happened; no one has any advantages before the law, and no one can mediate for anyone in our country anymore. Those who say such things should not judge me by their own standards,' Alen Simonyan added. He condemned today’s incident in the courthouse yard and assessed it negatively.

When asked by the media if he felt bad about the situation concerning his godfather, he replied, 'He is my godfather, of course, I feel bad because he shouldn’t have allowed himself such things. Although we haven’t been in touch for over a year, he should not have allowed himself to do such a thing to anyone.'