Human Rights Watch urged to show full respect for Armenia’s human rights commitments, and said investigators should revise their request for pretrial detention for Andreas Ghukasyan, and release him pending a trial founded on a credible investigation into the charges against him.

Last week a court in Armenia ordered Ghukasyan to remain in detention for an additional two months pending trial on criminal charges of “organizing mass disorder.” Yet publicly-available video footage of July 29 shows Ghukasyan calling on demonstrators to remain calm and not confront the police, Human Rights Watch said in a statement.

He has been locked up since his arrest during public protests in Yerevan on July 29, 2016.

The European Court has been very clear that pretrial detention should be a measure of last resort, and that specific facts and personal circumstances relevant to the accused are needed to justify pretrial detention. Courts may not rely on “general and abstract” reasons for detention.