YEREVAN.- Chief of Armenia’s police Alik Sargsyan commented on the arrest of opposition activist on Thursday during a briefing in parliament.

According to him, arrest of Tigran Arakelyan is not politically motivated. He committed a crime and should bear responsibility, he said.

Alik Sargsyan presented details of the incident, stressing that a 30-40 member group of opposition activists tore off clothes of the policemen, one of them broke policeman’s nose. He stressed that it was a preplanned provocation.

“They staged a provocation and later were joined by a group of 20 young people who had gathered beforehand,” he added.

Tigran Arakelyan and six other ANC activists were arrested on August 9 after an incident with police. All the arrested were released, except Arakelyan who is charged with using violence against a law enforcer.

Arrest of the opposition activist was followed by a suspension of the dialogue between the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) and the government.