Armenian Student Indicted After Church Incident With Pashinian

Armenia’s Investigative Committee also petitioned a district court to allow it to hold the 18-year-old Davit Minasian in custody for two months.

The criminal case stems from Pashinian’s unexpected visit to the packed St. Anne’s Church during a Palm Sunday Mass held there. Pashinian’s bodyguards upset Minasian as they cleared the way for the premier’s passage. The young man told them not to push him and said he wants to keep “standing in the middle” of the church.

“Don’t look at me like that,” he then told Pashinian before stretching a hand towards his shoulder.

Minasian was seemingly knocked down by one of the bodyguards as Pashinian left the church amid angry cries from other believers. Minasian was arrested right after the liturgy along with his twin brother Mikael and Gevorg Gevorgian, an activist critical of the Armenian government.

The Investigative Committee indicted all three men on Tuesday morning. It charged Davit Minasian with committing a violent hooligan act in a bid to interfere with Pashinian’s “political activities.” For their part, Gevorgian and Mikael Minasian were charged with organizing and assisting in the alleged hooliganism respectively.

They both were set free on bail, unlike Davit Minasian. The latter appeared later in the day before a Yerevan court asked by investigators to allow his pretrial arrest.

The investigators searched the brothers’ home the previous night. Defense lawyers said they did not find any documents or objects in support of the accusations. One of them, Vartuhi Elbakian, continued to insist that the students did not commit any crimes or pursue political goals.

“They have no connection to any politician,” Elbakian told reporters outside the court building.

Gevorgian likewise denied organizing the incident, saying that he did not even know either young man personally. He said he only tried to stop the Pashinian bodyguard from hitting Davit Minasian.

Pashinian has spent the last few weekends touring various parts of Armenia and talking to people in preparation for showdown parliamentary elections slated for June 7. Some of those citizens caused him to lose his temper by openly denouncing his policies or complaining about his government’s track record.

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