Lawyer: Several Strong Armenia party supporters detained, lawyers not  allowed to visit them

ArmInfo.  Several supporters  and staff members of the  Strong Armenia party have been taken to the Anti-Corruption Committee, and lawyers are not allowed to see them.   Lawyer Lusine Martirosyan shared this information on her Facebook  page.

According to Martirosyan, their efforts to involve the Human Rights  Defender (Ombudsman) of Armenia have yielded no results. "As usual,  we're assured that 'they'll intervene and get in touch,' but the  answer we get is 'people don't want a private defense attorney, they  want a public one.' Now the question is, what logic, what criminal  procedural principles, what unjustified waste of state resources,  what framework does all this fit into?" Martirosyan asked  rhetorically.

In a formal statement, the Anti-Corruption Committee provided details  regarding the ongoing criminal proceedings, searches, and arrests.  "As a result of investigative measures conducted by the  Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia, evidence was obtained  indicating that the head of the office of the public organization,  'In Our Way,' dedicated to the preservation of national values,  offered electoral bribes to several citizens to vote for the Strong  Armenia party during the parliamentary elections in Armenia.   Furthermore, from the day the decision to call the National Assembly  elections came into force until the results were tabulated, this same  individual, under the guise of charity, donated funds for an  operation to a Yerevan resident eligible to vote," the committee  reported.

Recall, this is not the first time that party supporters have been  detained on charges of giving and receiving electoral bribery. In  response to previous arrests, the party claimed that this was another  attempt to interfere with the party, aiming to create an unequal  playing field for the political force by intimidating party members  and obstructing their activities.