Karo Yeghnukyan did not support armed group members - lawyer (video)
The arrest of Karo Yeghnukyan, a member of the New Armenia movement, was ungrounded, his lawyer Tigran Hayrapetyan said on July 22. The lawyer says the National Security Agency tapped Yeghnukyan phone calls in the recent days and knew that he was in touch with the members of the Sasna Dzrer armed group occupying a police building in Yerevan’s Erebuni district since July 17. They also heard his telephone conversation with Variujan Avetisyan who said the gunmen did not have enough food and access to information. They discussed a possible solution to these problems. Judging by the conversation, the NSS concluded that Yeghnukyan supported the group. The lawyer says the desire to support the group is not sufficient ground for arrest. Yeghnukyan was taken into custody on the night of July 19, after NSS employees searched his house for five hours. The lawyer said after later when Yeghnukyan asked why he was being held, his captors said that he had supported the Sasna Dzrer group during the past two days and had been in telephone contact with them.
