The Armenian Center for Political Rights has issued a statement on detention and the charges against the student Davit Minasyan.

On March 29, 18-year-old high school student Davit Minasyan was put under pre-trial de-tention following an incident involving Prime Minister of the RA Nikol Pashinyan at St. Anna Church in Yerevan. He has been charged with “hooliganism” and “interfering with the lawful service or political activity of the official.” The incident was clearly not premeditated and caused no harm to state officials, yet it received a grossly disproportionate response from law enforcement structures.

In this context, it is evident that the criminal prosecution of opposition politician Gevorg Gevorgyan and D. Minasyan’s brother, Mikael Minasyan, as well as the apartment search, served to artificially inflate the gravity of the incident and to mislead the public.

The involvement of Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan in turn reinforces the conclusion that Davit Minasyan’s detention was driven not by law, but by political motives.

Unless the preventive measure is changed, Davit Minasyan will spend the graduation period of his final year of school behind bars, which in turn will negatively affect his right to education. In light of the circumstances of the incident and the legal regulations governing pre-trial detention, the decision to deprive Davit Minasyan of his liberty is disproportionate and arbitrary.

Details and reasoning are available in the statement.