Armenian court orders arrest of David Kazinyan for two months

ArmInfo. David Kazinyan, a candidate for parliament from the "Strong Armenia" bloc, has been ordered by a court to be arrested for two months. His lawyer, Aram  Vardevanyan, reported this to Armenian media.

"The court considered the case all night and decided to remand  Kazinyan in custody for two months," Vardevanyan reported.

The day before, the Central Electoral Commission of Armenia also  granted the Prosecutor General's Office's motions to authorize the  criminal prosecution of opposition candidates Asatur Kocharyan and  Ashot Yeghiazaryan.

As a reminder, on June 6, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia  filed a petition with the Prosecutor General's Office to the Central  Election Commission to strip David Ghazinyan, a candidate for  parliament from the "Strong Armenia" bloc, of his immunity. The  Committee based its decision on information it had received alleging  that "David Ghazinyan, along with supporters of their political  force, had paid election bribes."

Commenting on the situation, Vardevanyan said that the case was  initiated based on a leaked audio recording in which a third person,  unrelated to Ghazinyan, simply mentions his name. He called the case  absurd and expressed his belief that it was intended to foster a  climate of fear.