It has been 24 hours since the attack and arrest of Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan, and during this time he has not even been able to change his clothes. His lawyer, Zarouhi Postanjyan, said today, October 21, that she wanted to send him a jacket so he could have clothing.

“These are all manifestations of mistreatment. I won’t even call it torture yet, but inhumane treatment has been shown. Since yesterday, Mr. Ghukasyan has not been provided food, and he has diabetes. The man does not have his clothes, has not been able to use hygiene facilities, and has not been able to change his clothes. This arrest was completely illegal, unnecessary, and the justification is also illegal,” she said.

Postanjyan added that they have only received an excerpt of the court decision so far. “We have been promised that the full decision will be given this evening so that we can appeal it. Here, we are dealing with an obviously fabricated case aimed at depriving Gyumri of the ability to be governed and creating chaos in the city. There is no factual basis that would justify reasonable suspicion. In fact, the opposition mayor was subjected to wiretapping just a few days after being elected. We have documented data about the court ruling. According to the ruling, Vardan Ghukasyan can be wiretapped at his residence.

I can now assume that any opposition political figure or public official, including community leaders, may have a court ruling allowing operational surveillance at their homes. This means that the current government is entering people’s private lives through widespread court rulings.

Vardan Ghukasyan stated in court that all of this is baseless and is simply political persecution. Looking at the dates, we see that the order came after October 1, it was issued in the National Assembly hall, and actions began on October 16,” the lawyer said.

She also noted that Ghukasyan’s visits are currently partially restricted and he can only meet with family members.

It should be noted that Vardan Ghukasyan was sentenced to two months in detention today.

Earlier, NEWS.am reported that according to the Anti-Corruption Committee, eight employees of the Gyumri City Hall, including Mayor Ghukasyan, were arrested on charges of receiving and giving bribes. Among those arrested was the city’s chief architect, Henrik Gasparyan. A wiretapped recording released by the Anti-Corruption Committee captured a conversation between the mayor and the chief architect.

Additionally, on October 1, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan stated in the National Assembly: “For six months, Gyumri has been governed by a clan, led by the person many know as Vardanik, or according to the charges, the father of a community brush thief. During this time, he has made statements that recently publicly questioned Armenia’s sovereignty. Those who make statements against Armenia’s sovereignty must be removed from the political and public sphere.”