Security officers forcibly removed Gegham Manukyan from National Assembly podium

Panorama, Armenia
Oct 26 2021


POLITICS 14:07 26/10/2021 ARMENIA

Tensions went high in Armenia’s National Assembly on Tuesday after the Deputy Speaker of parliament Ruben Rubinyan ordered the security officers to remove opposition deputy Gegham Manukyan from the podium where he was making a statement. 

The move came after Manukyan stated that "there are many examples of villainy but the ones who renounced Artsakh are traitors." The opposition lawmaker hinted that one of the ruling party members have publicy refused from Artsakh in front of media. Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan, who was in charge of the session chairing, reminded Manukyan about ethical rules and asked for specific names whom the opposition lawmaker accused of treason. 

The incident escalated when Rubinyan ordered to switch off the microphone and asked Manukyan to leave the podium. The latter refused to leave. After it, security officers were invited to the session hall and forcibly pulled the deputy from the podium. A 20-minute break was announced.