Lawyer says no grounds to keep Homeland Party official in detention

There are no legal grounds to keep Khachik Galstyan, the secretary-general of the opposition Homeland Party, in detention, his lawyer and fellow party member Arsen Babayan said on Friday, accusing the authorities of politically motivated prosecutions ahead of elections.

Speaking at a protest outside the EU Delegation office office in Yerevan, Babayan said investigators had failed to present any facts or evidence that would meet even the minimum threshold of reasonable suspicion of a crime.

“There is no data, no fact whatsoever that could substantiate, even at the lowest level, a reasonable suspicion or resemble a criminal act,” Babayan told reporters.

He said Galstyan’s detention could not be justified, citing his background and public record. Babayan added that while the defence does not accept alternative preventive measures because the legal threshold has not been met, a range of non-custodial options was available to the court.

“This indicates an obsession with political persecution by the authorities not only against politicians, but also against public figures, people who speak publicly, citizens with opposition views, and even senior clergy,” Babayan said, adding the arrests are aimed at spreading fear ahead of elections.

“So that everyone knows that if they express an opinion different from that of the authorities, they could be imprisoned,” he said. “But I must disappoint the authorities: there are very few people in Armenia who will be afraid and those will be found in their own inner circle.”