Yesterday the Prosecutor General’s Office issued a statement informing that Deputies of the National Assembly Nikol Pashinyan, Ararat Mirzoyan and Sasun Mikayelyan were detained on suspicion of crime on organizing and holding assembly intentionally, in violation of Article 225.1 of the Criminal Code.

“1. Intentional violation of the order of organization and holding of the assembly, shall be punishable with a fine in the amount of two hundred up to three hundred minimal salaries (200-300 thousand AMD), or arrest for up to two months. 2. In case of calls to disobey the legitimate decision of the Police representative to terminate the assembly shall be punishable with a fine in the amount of up to three hundred up to five hundred minimal salaries (200-500 thousand AMD), or arrest for up to three months.”

In response to our question whether the detention would be chosen as a precautionary measure against Nikol Pashinyan and other MPs in case of accusing under this article, the Armenian Lawyers’ Association clarified:

“Article 135 § 2 of the Criminal Procedure Code states that arrest may be applied to the accused only if there is a reasonable suspicion that he has committed an offense for which the maximum term of imprisonment is more than one year, and there are sufficient grounds to assume that the accused may perform any action envisaged in paragraph 1 of this Article. And, as it is known, the MPs were arrested on suspicion of committing the offenses provided in Article 225.1 and the maximum punishment here is  up to 3 months’ imprisonment. Consequently, he has to be released after the expiration of 72 hours of arrest.”