Jailed Oppositionist Protests Against ‘Inhuman’ Treatment

Aregnaz Manukian decried her “inhuman and shocking” treatment by Armenian authorities in a statement from prison released late on Thursday.

“Today I am completely isolated from the world and am deprived of the opportunity to even talk to my 13-year-old daughter and 85-year-old mother on the phone,” she said.

Manukian, a leading member of the opposition Mayr Hayastan party, was arrested on July 9 as part of a high treason case against the party chairman, Andranik Tevanian. The latter was taken into custody on May 22 two days after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian announced espionage charges against him while campaigning for the June 7 parliamentary elections.

The Investigative Committee claims that Tevanian was recruited by a foreign, presumably Russian, intelligence service two years ago. According to it, he was paid $622,000 to supply state secrets, notably confidential details of a closed-door parliamentary hearing on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border demarcation held in April 2024.

Unlike Tevanian, who had resigned from the parliament in August 2023, Manukian still held a parliament seat at the time. She is now accused of sharing with Tevanian classified information that was provided to lawmakers during the hearing. She denies the accusation, saying she does not even remember attending the hearing.

“I have done nothing for which I should be held legally or even morally responsible,” Manukian insisted in her statement. “I have done nothing against my homeland and my state, regardless of the absurd assumptions contained in my fabricated accusation.”

Her lawyer, Tatevik Soghoyan, likewise said on Friday that the accusation is based on investigators’ presumption, rather than factual evidence. She also denounced a Yerevan court for allowing them to essentially her client incommunicado.

“I am unable to explain what investigative benefit would be required to prevent a mother from contacting her 13-year-old daughter,” said Soghoyan.

Mayr Hayastan ran in the disputed elections in a de facto alliance with businessman Gagik Tsarukian’s Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK). Pashinian repeatedly pledged to jail Tsarukian and the leaders of two other major opposition groups during and after the election campaign. The BHK leader was arrested on July 6.

Dozens of other opposition leaders, members and supporters have also been arrested in recent months on different charges denied by them. The arrests continued even after the July 7 polls. The Armenian opposition has rejected as fraudulent their official results that gave victory to Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.

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