Protest staged outside office of EU Delegation to Armenia

A protest was held Monday in front of the office of the Delegation of the European Union (EU) to Armenia.

The demonstration was held in support of the detained podcast hosts Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, as well as the former mayor of Vanadzor Mamikon Aslanyan, public figure Narek Malyan, and vice-chairman of the former ruling Republican Party of Armenia Armen Ashotyan.

The protesters argued that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan established a one-man rule in Armenia, and since 2018, the country has started to move away from the democratic path, as freedom of speech and dissent are being persecuted in Armenia.

They expressed their belief that the Armenian authorities are trying to revive the Criminal Code article on other wordings of grave insult, which is a blow to international organizations, including the EU.

The demonstrators accused the EU of double standards, noting that this organization ignores deliberately, and out of geopolitical interests, the persecution of the members of the media in Armenia, while until 2018 the EU actively supported the members of the media and participants of various actions.

Also, the protesters handed EU representatives a stack of blank papers as a symbol the EU's silence on political persecution in Armenia since 2018, as well as another stack of papers containing the EU's reports up to 2018 and its calls on persecution in the country.