The article on the basis of which Arsen Babayan was arrested is an amnestied article and, naturally, that arrest should not have taken place. Taron Simonyan, a member of the opposition Bright Armenia faction in parliament, on Wednesday said this in a conversation with reporters at the National Assembly, and referring to the arrest and indictment of former NA Deputy Chief of Staff Arsen Babayan.

"If it happened as a result of misunderstanding, he should have been released immediately,” Simonyan said. “As far as I am aware, the article has now been amended, which is not subject to amnesty. There can be no question of political persecution over this matter because it still fits into the specific legal field. In the future, unless there is a new article in the legal field, we will speak, as I did yesterday in relation to the first article.

“I will wait to get complete information about what happened, what the specific actions are, with what specific articles they are, why specific individuals are being charged, then I will respond comprehensively."

According to the indictment, Arsen Babayan distorted Constitutional Court then president Gagik Harutyunyan's petition for resignation to actually entering the NA on  March 5, 2018, marking the date of entry as March 2, 2018. In this way, Babayan had created false grounds for publication of the statement—signed on March 2, 2018—of the then NA President Ara Babloyan on the resignation of the then Constitutional Court president Gagik Harutyunyan, and which in turn served as the basis for Harutyunyan’s termination of office, and later for the process of nominating and appointing Hrayr Tovmasyan to that vacant post.