Rights defenders exclude political motive in questioning friends of a Russian stand-up comedian in Yerevan

There are no political overtones in the case, under which friends of the stand-up comedian, Tatiana Schukina, who announced that she was persecuted in Armenia because of criticising Putin, were interrogated, the Armenian Investigating Committee asserts.

On June 16, Tatiana Schukina reported that the Armenian police had detained her friends. "I am hiding outside the city. If I am returned to Russia, I will face jail or death for jokes about Putin, rallies, anti-war position and cooperation with Alexei Navalny*. I ask for political asylum," she wrote on the Twitter.

There is no political subtext in Schukina's case, Vardan Tadevosyan, the press secretary of the Investigating Committee, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent. Russian citizens were summoned for questioning on suspicion of causing bodily harm, he has explained.

According to investigators, on May 11, a resident of Yerevan was hospitalized with a trauma that he received during a quarrel on May 10.

Tigran Khzmalyan, the leader of the European Party of Armenia, has noted that Schukina's friends were not arrested as Putin's opponents.

In her performances, Tatiana Schukina spoke about her visits to rallies in Saint Petersburg, including about the slogans criticizing Putin that she had shouted there.