Lawyer condemns detention of missing Armenian soldier's uncle with heart conditions

Arsen Ghukasyan, the uncle of a soldier who went missing during the 2020 war, is being unlawfully held in pretrial detention despite suffering from multiple serious heart conditions, his lawyer Tatevik Soghoyan claims.

Ghukasyan has been detained for one month on charges of hooliganism at a protest outside the Armenian Defense Ministry.

In a social media post on Wednesday, Soghoyan said a medical consultation confirmed that Ghukasyan has nine severe cardiovascular diseases, which are listed as conditions incompatible with detention under Government Decision No. 825-N.

The lawyer accused the authorities of using pretrial detention as a punitive measure against government critics.

“It is beyond doubt that detention is being misused as punishment against anyone who dares to express discontent with the Armenian authorities,” she wrote. “It doesn’t matter whether you are a relative of a fallen or missing soldier, or someone suffering from severe illnesses. Murderers and thieves can walk free, while those who raise legitimate grievances are imprisoned.”