April 1, 2026
Arman Tatoyan, head of the “Wings of Unity” political initiative, writes. “All day today, it was obvious that the members of the CP knew about the political order to detain schoolboy Davit Minasyan and were waiting with their fingers crossed for when they would go to their favorite work: writing status, mocking, insulting a person.
And so it happened: a shameless self-proclaimed crocodile scientist, who holds a high-ranking position in our country and is obliged to serve every citizen, dares to make fun of a schoolboy for the fact that he will not be able to participate in the Last Call due to a political arrest.
He is sure that he will be appreciated for that writing, he will remain in his position. He is related to his boss, isn’t he?
First of all, law is justice, and arresting a schoolboy is an obvious abuse of law, a political order, it is unnecessary to even talk about the fact that there are no grounds. The child and his family are not political at all.
A simple question: if 18-year-old Davit Minasyan, who did not show “respect” to the person holding the position of prime minister in the church, had not been charged with such charges and even more so he had not been arrested, the boy would have continued to attend school, study classes, attend until the final verdict, what would have happened? The answer is definitely nothing.
All this has one explanation, the CP and their party leader are trying to instill an atmosphere of fear, to teach people a lesson not to express a public position about them, and they do not look at all that they are playing with the fate of a schoolboy entering a big life.
As I said, we need a different logic. not a government that is protected by law, but a law that protects the citizen. Including from the government itself.”
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168: It is necessary to name and shame not only the dictators, but also their fathers
April 1, 2026
RPA Vice President Armen Ashotyan referred to the provocation that took place in the church on Palm Sunday and the noisy realities that followed it. “The European and international experience of fighting against authoritarian regimes dictates that it is necessary to name and shame not only the dictators, but also the persons who serve them, carry out their orders, and are instruments of oppression.
That approach is called naming and shaming.
Therefore, within the framework of that toolkit, I remind you which of Nikol’s bodyguards hit 18-year-old student Davit Minasyan in the church.
His name is Mkrtumyan Ashot.
Shame on all the tools of dictators. May God punish them and their children for their actions.”
The photo that Armen Ashotyan attached to his post is a reminder of two Liturgies. in one case, the said bodyguard shuts the mouth of a citizen who uttered the name of His Holiness, in another case, he hits a school-aged boy.
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RFE/RL – Sarkisian’s Party To Shun 2026 Elections
Ending months of speculation, former President Serzh Sarkisian’s Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) said on Wednesday that it will not run in the June 7 parliamentary elections.
“As a result of a comprehensive analysis, a decision on the Republican Party’s direct nonparticipation in those elections was made,” the HHK said in a statement released after a meeting of its governing body.
The short statement added that the opposition party will explain the decision and announce its further steps during a congress scheduled for this Sunday.
The HHK ran in the last elections held in 2021 in an alliance with another opposition party led by Artur Vanetsian, a former head of Armenia’s National Security Service. The Pativ Unem alliance finished a distant third with 5.2 percent of the vote. Vanetsian announced its effective breakup a year later, following the Armenian opposition’s failure to topple Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian through street protests.
None of the other major opposition groups appears to have been willing to team up with Sarkisian’s party this time around. Those include the Hayastan alliance of former President Robert Kocharian and the Mer Dzevov movement set up last year by billionaire Samvel Karapetian.
Analysts believe that the HHK would struggle to gain seats in the next Armenian parliament if it were to run on its own. Sarkisian, who ruled Armenia from 2008-2018, said two months ago that he would love to join a single, broad-based opposition alliance challenging Pashinian’s Civil Contract party.
Vanetsian’s Fartherland party also decided later in February not to enter the unfolding parliamentary race. It urged supporters to vote for other opposition groups.
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Armenian Student Sent To Jail After Church Incident With Pashinian
- Naira Bulghadarian
An Armenian court on Wednesday allowed law-enforcement authorities to keep in detention a high school student who confronted Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian in a church in Yerevan at the weekend.
The 18-year-old Davit Minasian reportedly passed out and was hospitalized while being taken to the Armavir prison about 50 kilometers west of the Armenian capital. He was transported to the prison a few hours later.
Earlier in the day, the court remanded Minasian in two-month custody, ignoring pleas from his lawyers and mother Gayane. The latter issued late on Tuesday a relevant open letter to the judge who made the decision. The veteran judge, Mnatsakan Martirosian, is notorious for having routinely handed down rulings sought by the country’s current and former authorities.
During a court hearing on Minasian’s pre-trial arrest, the defense lawyers said the young man should not be incarcerated not only because he did not commit any crime but also because of suffering from an undiagnosed chronic allergy.
“David lost consciousness on his way to the Armavir penitentiary institution,” one of the lawyers, told reporters afterwards. “The boy was taken by ambulance to the Echmiadzin Medical Center in serious condition.”
The criminal case stems from Pashinian’s unexpected visit to St. Anne’s Church in Yerevan during a Palm Sunday Mass held there. The church was packed with worshippers, among them Minasian, and Pashinian’s bodyguards had to clear the way for his passage. A visibly annoyed Minasian 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. He 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 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. Unlike Davit, they both were freed on bail on Tuesday.
Investigators searched the brothers’ Yerevan apartment on Wednesday morning for the second time in three days. It remained unclear what they looked for.
Pashinian’s political allies have defended the arrests, saying that Minasian assaulted the prime minister. Some of them have also blamed the incident on Catholicos Garegin II, the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church whom Pashinian has been controversially trying to depose.
Armenian opposition figures counter, however, that the incident was the result of what they see as Pashinian’s provocative behavior. They claim that Pashinian ordered Minasian’s arrest and prosecution in a bid to intimidate disgruntled Armenians ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections.
“The two 18-year-old school students are told to show respect by those who did not show respect for dozens of believers in the church at their most sacred moment,” said Arman Tatoyan, a former human rights ombudsman. “The self-proclaimed believer [Pashinian] pushed people aside in the middle of the service and broke through their ranks with his bodyguards and entourage, forgetting that a humble believer does not behave in this way in a church.”
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RFE/RL – Putin Warns Against Election Bans On Armenian Opposition
All Armenian opposition parties sympathetic to Russia should be able to run in Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian during talks held in Moscow on Wednesday.
He also repeated Russia’s warnings about economic consequences of Armenia’s possible membership in the European Union sought by Pashinian’s government.
“We have a lot of friends in Armenia, a lot,” Putin said in his opening remarks at the talks. “We know that. Many Armenians live in the Russian Federation. There are different ways to count [their number.] We believe there are over 2 million of them … And there are many political forces [in Armenia] that are pro-Russian.”
“Of course, I will tell you completely frankly, we have such a dialogue that we always speak honestly and directly with you. We would really like all these political parties, politicians to be able to take part in this domestic political work during the elections,” he said.
Some of those politicians are currently under arrest “despite holding Russian passports,” Putin pointed out in a clear reference to Samvel Karapetian, a Russian-Armenian billionaire prosecuted after condemning Pashinian’s attempts to depose Catholicos Garegin II.
Karapetian set up an opposition movement shortly after his arrest last year. It is now expected to be one of the main opposition contenders in the elections slated for June 7. Two other major opposition groups are led by former President Ronbert Kocharian and businessman Gagik Tsarukian.
In series of statements made earlier this year, senior members of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party said that the Armenian government will not “allow” the three opposition forces to collectively win a majority in the country’s next parliament and form a new government. The statements raised opposition fears that some or all of them will be barred from participating in the elections.
Pashinian’s administration added to those fears when it officially asked the EU in February to deploy a “hybrid rapid response team” to Armenia after implicitly alleging Russian “hybrid” threats to the integrity of the electoral process. The EU formally agreed to that last month
The EU sent such a mission in Moldova during parliamentary elections held there last September. Two Moldovan opposition parties deemed pro-Russian were disqualified from the vote won by the former Soviet republic’s pro-Western leadership.
The Russian Foreign Ministry claimed on March 4 that the EU is gearing up for a repeat of “the Moldovan scenario” in Armenia. Some Armenian opposition figures and commentators have also made such claims. The Armenian authorities insist, however, that they only want the EU to assist in the proper conduct of the polls.
Responding to Putin’s election-related warning, Pashinian said that under the Armenian constitution, dual citizens like Karapetian cannot become prime minister or even hold a parliament seat. The tycoon’s party has made clear that it will try to remove this constitutional hurdle if it wins the elections.
Tensions between Moscow and Yerevan have run high in recent years amid Pashinian’s efforts to reorient Armenia towards the West. The Armenian government enacted last year a law calling for the “start of a process of Armenia’s accession to the European Union.” Moscow has since repeatedly warned that seeking to join the EU is “not compatible” with Armenia’s continued membership in the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU), a Russian-led trade bloc that gives Armenian exporters tariff-free access to Russia’s vast market.
Putin repeated those warnings during his meeting with Pashinian which is understood to have been requested by the latter in a recent phone call. He noted that Russia remains Armenia’s most important trading partner and supplies natural gas to the South Caucasus state at a significant discount.
“As you know, energy prices, gas prices in Europe, for example, are currently skyrocketing to over $600 per thousand cubic meters,” he said. “Russia sells gas to Armenia for $177.5 per thousand cubic meters. The difference is significant.”
Pashinian responded by again saying that Armenia will eventually have to choose between the two blocs.
“As long as there is an opportunity to combine these two agendas, we will do so,” he said. “And when the processes develop to a point where a decision needs to be made, I am confident that we, I mean the citizens of the Republic of Armenia, will make that decision.”
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Netanyahu’s government is no longer talking about a change of power in Iran
This morning, Iran was actively shelling Israeli territory.
It is remarkable that, despite the obvious propaganda claims that communication between different units of the IRGC has been disrupted, Iran is even able to coordinate its strikes with the Lebanese Hizballah and the Yemeni Houthis, who are conducting simultaneous operations.
Netanyahu’s government is no longer talking about a change of power in Iran, and Israeli experts claim that Iran is capable of striking that country until the last minute of the war.
Iranologist Vardan Voskanyan
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Pashinyan was invited to the bicycle race to be held in Moscow at the end of May
The organizers of Cyclingrace told RIA Novosti that they would be happy to invite Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to the “Sadove Koltso” cycling race, which will take place in Moscow at the end of May.
“We would very much like to invite the Prime Minister to return to Moscow at the end of May and take part in our main event, the “Sadovoe koltso” bicycle race, which has an international status,” the organizers noted.
The company noted that many cyclists from abroad will arrive in Moscow to participate in the race. The race has a long and rich history. it was not canceled even during the Great Patriotic War.
Let us remind you that on April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin will hold talks with Pashinyan, who will be in Moscow on a working visit.
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“Ruler of the world” or Washington’s hostage?
Trump has made a new announcement that the war against Iran will end in two to three weeks. Moreover, he stated that they will finish regardless of whether Iran will go to a deal or not.
As they say, the tone of Trump’s statements changes perhaps more often than his socks. It is either the evidence of a really glaring and political impasse, in which Trump is trying to save face by conjuring statements, or he is thus trying to disorient the Iranian side, so to speak. But can the Iranian side be disoriented by any of Trump’s statements after all that has happened during the war or in the past months? Hardly.
According to that, Trump is probably trying to maneuver in the political network in which he found himself. On the one hand, of course, the Christian-Zionists and the Israeli lobby continue to exert strong pressure on him, on the other hand, he feels the pressure of public distrust, which may cost the Republicans Congress in November.
For example, information was published yesterday that only 7 out of 10 Republicans support Trump’s Iran actions, and only 1 out of 10 Democrats. It turns out that only eight out of 20 congressmen support Trump. And no matter how much he tries to present himself as a global leader, one thing is for sure that he is not an “American leader”. Meanwhile, that’s where Trump’s main problem lies.
This is perhaps the reason why he talks about the imminent end of the war, although I repeat, those who pushed Trump to the decision to start the war have no plans or intentions for that end.
Analyst Hakob Badalyan
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18-year-old Davit Minasyan, a participant in the incident in Saint Anna Church, will be detained for 2 months
18-year-old student Davit Minasyan, who participated in the incident with Nikol Pashinyan in Saint Anna Church, was detained for 2 months by the decision of judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan.
To remind, he was arrested on Sunday after the incident in Saint Anna Church, when, according to the law enforcement officers, he tried to hit Pashinyan.
The CC reported that a public criminal prosecution was initiated against 3 persons in connection with the incident that took place in the Saint Anna Church.
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The condition of the detained 18-year-old Davit’s mother worsened in the court yard
Davit Minasyan, one of the twin brothers involved in the incident with Nikol Pashinyan in St. Anna Church, was detained for 2 months by the decision of judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan.
After hearing the news about her son’s arrest, Davit’s mother, Ms. Gayane’s health condition worsened.
An ambulance approached the court yard to provide medical aid, but Mrs. Gayane refused medical treatment.
It should be reminded that the ban on absenteeism was chosen against one of the brothers, Mikael Minasyan, the day before.
In a conversation with journalists, lawyer Armen Melkonyan said that they have not yet received the court’s justifications regarding the detention.
“They find that the 12th grade student should be in custody, but a number of people accused of particularly serious crimes can be under administrative control. The judge did not take anything into account,” said the lawyer, noting that they will definitely appeal the decision.
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