Armenian Center for Political Rights warns of threat of political  persecution following statements by RA premier against four  opposition politicians

ArmInfo.  The Armenian Center for Political Rights (ACPR) warns of a threat of political persecution following statements by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan against four opposition politicians during the election campaign.

As recalled in the ACPR report published on its Facebook page, on May  18, three weeks before the country's upcoming June parliamentary  elections, the Armenian prime minister threatened physical violence  against four opposition politicians, three of whom lead political  forces running in the election.

"As a 'justification' for his threats, Pashinyan cited a video of  unknown origin showing four armed, masked men threatening him.  Without any evidence, Pashinyan attributed the video to the  opposition, claiming that his political rivals were behind the masked  men," the ACPR recalled.

In this regard, the Armenian Center for Political Rights noted that  similar threats by Pashinyan have previously been followed by actions  by security forces. "Such threats from the prime minister during the  pre-election period in themselves call into question the fairness of  the electoral process and the ability of political forces to take  advantage of a level playing field. A video of masked men of unknown  origin is being used as a pretext. Given Pashinyan's previous  experience, as well as his influence over the security forces and the  judiciary, the threats of violence voiced on May 18 should be taken  seriously and interpreted as a threat of impending political  persecution," the Center noted.

The ACPR also reported that the English version of this report has  been shared with international human rights organizations of which  Armenia is a member, including the Council of Europe and the  OSCE/ODIHR, their specialized offices and relevant officials,  diplomatic missions, and human rights organizations operating in  Armenia and elsewhere.

The report can be accessed at the following link: 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1IZRBkwSZ2BOuSaAPJRGHA-XnimnRTFfr/view

As a reminder, pro-government media outlets previously circulated a  video showing unknown armed individuals threatening Armenian Prime  Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the Artsakh dialect and calling on  Armenian citizens not to vote for him in the parliamentary elections.  The Investigative Committee of Armenia has opened a criminal case  into this incident. On May 18, during the election campaign,  Pashinyan showed this video and then threatened opposition leaders,  stating, in part: "Look at these brats.  They put on masks and pose  as heroes. These are the same heroes who, having shit themselves,  abandoned our soldiers. Brats, take off your masks and come out, you  big guys, I'll find you one by one, take off those masks and shove  them up your asses. I'll force you to your knees. Take off your masks  and come voluntarily. Look at these brats Rob, Tashir, Serzhik,  Gago."

It should be added that it was previously reported that officers from  the Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Investigative  Committee conducted searches at more than a dozen addresses in  Yerevan.

The Armenian Ministry of Internal Affairs press service confirmed to  ArmInfo that law enforcement officers are conducting searches at 15  addresses in the Armenian capital. The Ministry did not provide any  further details. Meanwhile, according to government-affiliated media  outlets, law enforcement officers are searching for illegally stored  weapons and ammunition.