Armenian law-enforcers persecuting authorities` opponents - expert 

ArmInfo.  Amid the daily crime rate in Armenia, law enforcement agencies continue to focus their efforts on persecuting opponents of the ruling regime. Gohar Meloyan, a legal expert and head of the International Center for the  Development of Parliamentarism, wrote this on her Facebook page in  response to the arrest of Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan,  hosts of the "Imnimnim" podcast.

The legal expert expressed her belief that the hosts would not have  been detained if they had been following the authorities' subpoena  and persecuting opposition figures. Regarding the search of their  apartments, Meloyan rhetorically asked what its purpose is if the  person is charged with hooliganism committed using information or  communication technologies. As Meloyan noted, in this case, a search  of the apartment cannot resolve any legal issue. "It's clear that the  purpose of the search is to terrorize the detainees' family members.  These days, only those who criticize the current authorities are  detained using such methods. Meanwhile, individuals who are  apolitical or support the government will never be arrested by the  NSS for a moderate crime," the legal expert noted.

Thus, as Meloyan emphasized, once again, the law enforcement system  is being used not for legal proceedings, but for political  retribution.

As a reminder, Vazgen Saghatelyan and Narek Samsonyan, founders and  hosts of the "Imnemnimi" podcast, were detained in Yerevan today.  According to Samsonyan's lawyer, Ruben Melikyan, they are charged  with hooliganism. According to the lawyer, the bloggers were detained  after searches of their homes began at 7 a.m. Melikyan reported that  the statement against the bloggers was filed by Alen Simonyan,  Speaker of the Armenian Parliament.