Armenia arrests separatist who threatened PM Nikol Pashinyan

An Armenian court has ordered the arrest of Karabakh separatist Artur Osipyan for two months after he allegedly threatened Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan amid the ongoing election campaign in Yerevan, lawyer Roman Yeritsyan has announced.

The incident occurred on May 18 during a campaign event held by the ruling Civil Contract party and its leader, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is currently on leave due to the election campaign, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

Artur Osipyan reportedly approached Pashinyan, leading to a heated argument between the two.

As tensions escalated, security personnel pushed Osipyan away from the prime minister.

Osipyan was detained later after Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan showed Pashinyan, during a live broadcast, a social media video allegedly posted by Osipyan before the incident.

In the recording, he said: “If anyone knows Nikol’s location, tell me — I’ll find him and pluck his feathers out.”

He was subsequently apprehended, while his Facebook page was later deleted.

Yeritsyan noted that the decision to place Osipyan under arrest was made during a closed court hearing by Judge Shahverdyan.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov