Yerevan police detain activists of "Prosperous Armenia"

Several activists of the "Prosperous Armenia" Party were detained in Yerevan on February 16. The party issued a statement accusing authorities of exerting pressure.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on February 12, the Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan dismissed Gagik Tsarukyan, the leader of the "Prosperous Armenia" Party (PAP), from the membership of the Republic's National Security Council, stating that he "was ignoring his voters," failed to fulfil his duties, and was suspected of non-payment of "billions of taxes."

Yesterday, on February 16, PAP activists reported detentions and searches in apartments of their supporters.

Thus, Arthur Mamoyan, the head of the Nor-Nork Yerevan territorial office of the PAP was brought to the police; and the apartment of Rustam Gasparyan, an MP of the PAP faction, was searched.

Elinar Vardanyan, another PAP member of the National Assembly of Armenia, said that party activists from the Yerevan communities of Arabkir and Malatia were also brought to the police.

"After the events of the past two weeks, I got an impression that we are back in 1937; and the then repressive methods are quite popular today," said the MP from the PAP.

According to Elinar Vardanyan, attacks began after the President's order about Gagik Tsarukyan; and it would be strange to associate it with anything else, the "Armenia Today" reports.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.