No Insults Were Thrown, Only Strikes Were Made: Melikyan Provides Details on Incident

I have taken on the defense of the detained opposition MP, Mher Sahakyan. He is currently located at the Arabkir police station and will likely soon be transferred to Yerevan's investigative unit (on Paruyr Sevak street). This was stated by human rights activist Ruben Melikyan on his Facebook page.

“I am authorized to present Mher Sahakyan's clarification regarding the incident. During a closed session of the State and Legal Commission, a ruling party MP, the commission chairman V. Vardanyan, exhibited aggressive behavior towards the opposition MPs. Mher Sahakyan responded to this behavior in words. Subsequently, the same ruling party MP stood up from his seat and walked towards Mher Sahakyan. Considering the impunity with which ruling party MPs have previously physically confronted and attacked opposition members, Mher Sahakyan assessed the situation as one where there was a real threat of Vardanyan hitting him, and in self-defense, he delivered one strike. As a result of the strike, the threat was neutralized.

No insults were thrown, rather, only strikes were made,” he wrote.