Mihran Hakobyan, an opposition activist and former MP from the former ruling Republican Party, was attacked early afternoon on Monday by masked people adjacent to a shopping centre in Yerevan.
The authorities have launched a criminal case under the article on causing moderate bodily harm through hooligan motives by a group of individuals.
The attack, according to Hakobyan’s lawyer Ruben Melikyan, came from behind and left Hakobyan with a broken nose and a concussion.
‘We simply do not see any reason other than his opposition activity, his political positions’, Melikyan said in a Facebook Live regarding the motive for the attack.
In a separate Facebook post, Melikyan expressed confidence that the attack would not have taken place ‘if law enforcement had uncovered the crime of [someone] throwing a grenade in front of Mihran’s house in 2021’.
That incident took place in June 2021, and despite a subsequent investigation, no one has been charged.
Similarly, opposition MP Tigran Abrahamyan stated that Hakobyan had no personal or domestic issues, or enmity with anyone.
‘It is evident that the atrocity that occurred is related to his public statements and expressed political assessments, to which a set of tools characteristic of a thugocracy was applied in response’, Abrahamyan wrote on Facebook.
Separately, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan condemned the attack on Tuesday on Facebook, writing that ‘there is no place for violence’ in Armenia.
‘Those who call for violence and those who resort to violence must be identified and face both political and legal assessment’, he added .
In reference to the attack on Hakobyan, human rights advocate Zara Hovhannisyan said that it was ‘a continuation of this old and well‑tested methodology’.
‘The method of solving issues through violence has been relevant under every government’, Hovhannisyan wrote in a Facebook post.
Arshaluys Barseghyan
Earlier this year, Hakob Karapetyan, a critic of the Yerevan authorities, said he was attacked by a masked individual, accusing a municipal employee of being behind the attack. The incident followed his public criticism of the city administration, after which a high-ranking official insulted him and threatened to ‘break his legs’.
