Arsen Babayan: Authorities stop at nothing to get rid of Hrayr Tovmasyan

A former senior staffer of the Armenian National Assembly facing coup charges reiterates his prosecution and arrest iare aimed at stepping up pressure on Constitutional Court Chairman Hrayr Tovmasyan in an effort to force him to resign or fire him in any other way.

Arsen Babayan, who served as deputy chief of the Armenian parliament staff, was arrested on 21 October after being accused of involvement in a “usurpation of power” which resulted in Tovmasyan’s appointment as Constitutional Court chairman in 2018.

He was released on Tuesday pending investigation and trial.

Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, Babayan stressed the Armenian authorities stop at nothing to get rid of Hrayr Tovmasyan.

“That is, there is a goal to get rid of Hrayr Tovmasyan, I think, it will be followed by another goal to get rid of the rest of the Constitutional Court judges, except maybe one or two. In this context, it does not matter to the authorities who will be imprisoned, tortured or otherwise. In this case man is of no value,” he stressed.

The former official again decried as ‘unlawful’ his arrest of 22 days, stressing he was held ‘hostage’ by the political authorities.

Commenting on his future plans, Babayan said he will take all the steps prescribed by law to achieve a just settlement of the case and have the criminal charges against him dropped.