Detention of Gyumri mayor Vardan Ghukasyan extended
The Anti-Corruption Court today ruled to extend the detention of Vardan Ghukasyan, the community head of Gyumri, for another three months. The prosecution submitted a motion stating that the grounds for the previously applied preventive measures still persist.
The defense had motioned to replace the detention with alternative measures, presenting documents regarding the mayor’s health condition and personal guarantees provided by Members of Parliament (MPs) from the “Armenia” (Hayastan) faction of the RA National Assembly, Mher Melkonyan, Garnik Danielyan, and Gegham Manukyan. However, the court granted the prosecution’s request.
Attorney Zaruhi Postanjyan stated that the court failed to take into account Vardan Ghukasyan’s personal data and the provided guarantees.
As a reminder, on October 20, security forces raided the Gyumri Municipality to apprehend community head Vardan Ghukasyan. On the morning of October 21, the mayor of Gyumri was detained for two months. On October 26, it was revealed that new charges were brought against Ghukasyan for his ideas regarding Armenia forming a union with other countries. The Investigative Committee (IC) announced on November 21 that public criminal prosecution was also initiated against him under Article 297, Part 2, Points 1 and 3 of the Criminal Code (hooliganism committed by a group of persons using information or communication technologies).