Appellate court upholds Armen Ashotyan's arrest

Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals on Thursday refused to order the release of opposition politician Armen Ashotyan.

Ashotyan, deputy head of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), was arrested on 16 June on charges of abuse of power and money laundering strongly denied by him as politically motivated. Yerevan’s Anti-Corruption Court extended his pre-trial arrest for two months on 15 August.

Ashotyan’s lawyer, Tigran Atanesyan, said he had asked the appellate court to overturn the lower court ruling, but presiding judge Sergey Marabyan rejected the appeal.