Trial concludes over 'traitor' remark against Pashinyan's wife

The trial of Tigran Dermoyan, a man facing hate speech charges after calling Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s wife Anna Hakobyan a "traitor" at the Tsitsernakaberd Memorial on April 24 last year, has concluded.

At a hearing on Friday, the prosecutor stated that the charges were substantiated by evidence, claiming that his remarks amounted to an “extreme form of hate speech with significant public danger”. He requested a guilty verdict under Article 329 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, which criminalizes public speech inciting hatred or discrimination based on race, ethnicity, religion, political views or social background, particularly when coordinated with others or disseminated via mass media. It carries a prison sentence of one to four years.

The defense, however, dismissed the charges as groundless and politically motivated. Dermoyan’s lawyer, Ara Papikyan, insisted that his client never made the alleged statements and that no credible evidence substantiated the accusations. Papikyan also criticized procedural violations during the investigation and called for Dermoyan’s acquittal, declaring his innocence.

The court’s verdict is pending.