Amsterdam called for an international investigation into the death in pretrial detention of a Strong Armenia activist.

ArmInfo. Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP and attorney for the leader of the Strong Armenia party, called for an international investigation into the death of Arsen Gevorgyan, a candidate for mayor of Stepanavan from Strong Armenia, in the Nubarashen Penitentiary.

In a post on his Facebook page, the lawyer noted that he was shocked by the news of Gevorgyan's death. "Even before the strictest measure of restraint—arrest—was applied to him, a public campaign was already underway. Not a single court has found him guilty. I clearly state to the Armenian authorities: respect the presumption of innocence. No official has the right to present an accusation as proven guilt. "Using arrest as a punishment is an abuse of justice," Amsterdam emphasized.

The international lawyer noted that public pressure and imprisonment can have serious consequences for a person's mental and physical health. "We do not yet know what Arsen Gevorgyan experienced in custody or the circumstances of his death. In custody, he was unable to independently seek medical attention. The immediate responsibility for protecting his life and health lay with the Armenian authorities. I call for an immediate international investigation to determine how state power is brutally used against those whom Armenia's out-of-touch leader considers enemies. "I express my deepest condolences to Arsen Gevorgyan's family, relatives, friends, and everyone who knew and loved him," Amsterdam concluded.

On the morning of November 10, the party's head of communications and public relations, Nelly Avetisyan, 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 that same day, he himself began threatening opposition representatives. It is worth noting that all of this occurred before the local government elections in Stepanavan.