Armenian opposition MP accuses ruling party of politicizing justice

Armenian opposition lawmaker Garnik Danielyan launched a sharp rebuke against the ruling Civil Contract party during a parliament session on Thursday, accusing it of misusing pre-trial detention and undermining judicial independence.

Addressing Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan, Danielyan argued that detention was being applied as a punitive measure rather than a legal safeguard. “Detention should not be used as punishment, but you are using it purely to penalize people,” he said.

The Hayastan bloc MP went on to allege that Armenia’s judiciary operates under political influence. “Today we have telephone justice and SMS justice in Armenia. This is the true face of your system,” Danielyan said, accusing the authorities of misleading the public.

Turning his criticism toward Civil Contract MPs, Danielyan invoked former health minister and ruling party deputy Arsen Torosyan as symbolic of their collective stance. He pointed to Torosyan’s televised remarks downplaying the destruction of churches in Artsakh.

“It’s a church, well, they demolished it, so what? Why are you making a fuss?” he quoted Torosyan as saying.