Five Strong Armenia members remain under house arrest, lawyer says

Five members from the Strong Armenia party’s Artashat office remain under house arrest, lawyer Yuri Ivanyan said. The case stems from the April 16 detentions, when 14 people were brought in to police stations. At the time, the Anti-Corruption Committee stated that 12 of them had been placed under house arrest immediately.

According to Ivanyan, nine people have since been released, and in two episodes the court declined to impose a restraining measure due to insufficient grounds. The lawyer notes that a paradoxical situation is taking shape: people are being detained for carrying out their direct duties.

“These members are officially employed at party offices and units, and their functions include political activity: canvassing, distributing materials, engaging citizens. Yet for some reason all of this is being treated as a violation,” Ivanyan told Sputnik Armenia.