The consolidated opposition called the death of the Strong Armenia candidate in Stepanavan a settling of scores.

ArmInfo. The Armenian authorities' use of arrest against opposition figures has become a means of settling scores. This statement was issued by opposition forces united around the national agenda.

Reacting to the death of Arsen Gevorgyan, a candidate for the post of head of the Stepanavan community from the Strong Armenia party, who was in custody, the united opposition noted that the opposition figure has become yet another victim of political persecution, the clearly illegal use of pretrial detention, and a targeted smear campaign unleashed during the tenure of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. "This tragedy bears witness to a horrifying reality." "Humanity and dignity have long ceased to be absolute values in Armenia, and the use of arrest against opposition figures has become a tool for settling scores," reads a statement received by ArmInfo from the press service of the Strong Armenia party.

The ruling party and representatives of the legal system who carry out its illegal instructions bear full responsibility for Gevorgyan's death, the political forces noted. They condemned the atmosphere of political vendetta that has developed in the country, which is leading to such tragic consequences, and called on all political actors and public forces to unequivocally condemn this incident.

"We also call on all international organizations and diplomatic missions to clearly assess the massive human rights violations and the practice of political persecution leading to the deaths of people in Armenia. This tragedy once again confirms the urgent need to restore democratic freedoms and rights." "Gevorgyan's memory obliges us to fight to the end for the establishment of human rights, dignity, and the rule of law in Armenia," the statement concluded.

On the morning of November 10, Nelly Avetisyan, the party's head of communications and public relations, confirmed to ArmInfo that Arsen Gevorgyan had died in pretrial detention. According to Armenian media reports, he suffered a heart attack.

As a reminder, on October 21, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia opened a criminal case against Arsen Gevorgyan, who headed the Strong Armenia party's proportional list in the Stepanavan Municipal Council elections, and 13 other individuals. It was later announced that the court ordered Gevorgyan's arrest for two months. Five more people were placed under two-month arrest or house arrest.

Notably, the day before these events, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to write to him personally to citizens and candidates for community heads in the local government elections who were under pressure from the ruling Civil Contract party. However, by the evening of the same day, he himself began threatening opposition representatives. It is worth noting that all of this occurred before the local government elections in Stepanavan.