Former Aragatsotn Governor and ARF Member Ashot Simonyan Released

Ashot Simonyan, the former governor of Aragatsotn, who was arrested in connection with an incident involving MP Sisak Gabrielyan, has been released. Simonyan's attorney, Gayane Papoyan, confirmed in an interview with Hetq that his arrest was deemed unlawful due to a lack of reasonable suspicion.

Simonyan, a member of the Supreme Body of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF), was detained on December 28 after a criminal case was initiated regarding a skirmish that occurred outside the National Assembly between MP Gabrielyan and citizens.

On December 28, citizens protesting in front of the National Assembly threw eggs at lawmakers. Online footage surfaced showing citizens blocking Gabrielyan's vehicle, after which he exited the car angrily, leading to a scuffle accompanied by mutual insults. The video depicted Gabrielyan striking and pulling one citizen before that individual was shown lying on the ground.

In a conversation with reporters at the Assembly, Gabrielyan stated that 3-4 participants of the protest made mock and hooligan comments and struck his vehicle. Regarding the citizen who fell to the ground, Gabrielyan remarked that the area might have been icy, which could have caused the citizen to fall, but he could not say for certain as the situation was chaotic with about 10-15 citizens against him alone.

Following the incident, 15 individuals were brought in for questioning by the police, and a criminal case was opened under the third part of Article 258 of the Criminal Code, which pertains to hooliganism committed by a group of individuals or an organized group, accompanied by violence against a person or the threat of such violence, as well as the destruction or damage of another's property. Ashot Simonyan was arrested in connection with this case.

Simonyan's attorneys filed an appeal against his arrest in court yesterday evening, which was assigned to Judge Gagik Poghosyan. Today, Judge Poghosyan ruled that Simonyan's arrest was unlawful.

When asked whether Simonyan had been charged as a defendant in the criminal case, attorney Papoyan stated that they had not received any such information, and the defense had not been called to participate in any investigative actions. Papoyan further noted that during the hearing on the appeal against the arrest, the prosecutor and investigator asserted that the footage of the incident had provided the basis for opening the criminal case. The defense argued that the same footage also showed apparent criminal actions by Sisak Gabrielyan and questioned what actions had been taken regarding him, but they received no answer.