The charges brought against Ruben Hakobian and denied by him stem from his July 1 interview with a pro-opposition TV channel in which he strongly condemned a recent wave of arrests of opposition activists and other vocal critics of Pashinian.
“If he [Pashinian] doesn’t resign, then yes, grab him by the ears and … throw him out,” said Hakobian.
He accused the premier of systematically violating Armenia’s constitution and laws and said Armenians have therefore a legitimate right to revolt against their government. He defended two archbishops arrested last month amid Pashinian’s campaign against the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
One of the archbishops, Mikael Ajapahian, is also prosecuted for publicly advocating “the seizure of power.” The same accusation was brought against billionaire Samvel Karapetian who was arrested on June 18 just hours after condemning Pashinian’s campaign and pledging to defend the church “in our own way.”
Both Ajapahian and Karapetian as well as Armenian opposition groups reject the charges as politically motivated. Opposition leaders claim that Pashinian is cracking down on dissent in a bid to prevent protests against further concessions to Azerbaijan planned by him. The premier and his political allies deny this.
“We are witnessing a criminalization of opposition rhetoric,” Hakobian’s son Samvel, who is an opposition member of Yerevan’s municipal council, said on Monday. “That is, any speech that is against Nikol Pashinyan is subject to criminal liability.”
The 69-year-old Hakobian is a former member of the Armenian parliament. He is currently not affiliated with any party.