Armenian lawyer raises alarm over detained student's health

The lawyer of detained 18-year-old student David Minasyan claims that his health condition has worsened, describing it as “concerning” and calling for urgent attention to his well-being.

“I visited David this morning. He had headaches and complaints. I tried not to disturb him,” his lawyer, Lusine Martirosyan, told reporters outside the Prosecutor General’s Office on Thursday.

She stressed that his condition remains serious. “David is not well… At the moment, the most important issue for us is his life and health. We will address his right to education later,” she said.

Martirosyan added that the authorities have yet to respond to a petition sent to Education Minister Zhanna Andreasyan despite the urgency of the situation. A separate appeal to Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan has also received no response, she said.

“There are no legal grounds for David’s detention,” Martirosyan stated.

Minasyan’s mother, Gayane Minasyan, has appealed to Andreasyan to act as a guarantor to secure a change in her son’s pre-trial detention.

Minasyan was detained on March 29 following an incident involving Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a Palm Sunday mass at St. Anna Church in Yerevan. He was subsequently charged and placed in pre-trial detention for two months.

According to his lawyer, Minasyan lost consciousness before being transferred from the court to the Armavir Penitentiary and was taken to a medical facility in Echmiadzin. He later lost consciousness again during transfer to the Abovyan Penitentiary and was hospitalized, first locally and then at Nairi Medical Center in Yerevan, where he remains under care.