THE CONTEXT OF R. MKHITARYAN’S DETENTION
⦁ On October 20, Vardan Ghukasyan, the opposition mayor of Gyumri, was arrested and subsequently detained. While investigative actions were being conducted at the City Hall for approximately six hours, a crowd gathered outside the building, consisting of the mayor’s supporters, journalists, lawyers, and other citizens. Among them was Ruben Mkhitaryan, a member of the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia.
⦁ During the assembly, Mkhitaryan was engaged in negotiations with police representatives near the entrance to the City Hall, clearly identifying himself as a lawyer.
⦁ Immediately after Ghukasyan’s arrest, tensions escalated between police officers and protesters, leading to scuffles. The police detained 33 individuals, including lawyer Ruben Mkhitaryan. On October 23, 15 of them, including Mkhitaryan, were placed in pre-trial detention for 2 months.
⦁ Experts from the Armenian Center for Political Rights (ACPR) analyzed multiple livestream recordings from media outlets covering the scene and reconstructed the sequence of events leading up to Mkhitaryan’s arrest. The synchronized footage is available ⦁ here.
⦁ Mkhitaryan has been charged under Article 327, Part 1 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Armenia (participating in mass disorder) and Article 486, Part 2 (1) (intervention by a group of persons with a prior agreement to administration of justice or investigation of case).
⦁ Video evidence clearly shows that Mkhitaryan was not engaged in any unlawful activity. On the contrary, the lawyer remained at a distance from the clashes between police and demonstrators and did nothing beyond raising his hands. Therefore, there was no legal basis for either the criminal charges brought against him or for restricting his liberty.
⦁ Mkhitaryan is the second lawyer to have been arbitrarily detained this month. The other lawyer, Aleksandr Kochubayev, remains under detention.
RECOMMENDATION
As in the case of the previous statement by ACPR, we call upon the addresses of this statement:
⦁ To immediately examine, within the scope of their mandates, the case of the arbitrary detention of Alexander Kochubaev and Ruben Mkhitaryan, members of the Chamber of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia.։
⦁ We further urge them to engage with the Armenian authorities and draw their attention to this matter.
Remarks on the Assembly of October 20, 2025
⦁ On October 20, multiple units from various security agencies were involved in policing the assembly in front of the Gyumri City Hall. When some demonstrators attempted to approach the building’s rear entrance, officers of the National Security Service (NSS) also took part in policing the assembly. The personnel of this unit had their faces covered and wore no individual identification.
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⦁ Video footage shows that police operations were poorly coordinated. For instance, during the scuffles, Artur Khudinyan, head of the Patrol Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA) of the Republic of Armenia, ordered his subordinates to step back at least seven times. Other commanding officers made similar attempts, yet their instructions were not immediately obeyed.
⦁ The scufles during which attorney Ruben Mkhitaryan was also detained began when members of the special units of the Police Troops pushed into the crowd of demonstrators. Some protesters were heard shouting insults, but police carried out arrests arbitrarily, often employing clearly disproportionate force.
⦁ It should be noted that officers of the Special Purpose Battalion of the Yerevan Department of the MIA Police (commonly known as the “Red Berets”) were also engaged in policing the assembly. This unit has previously been implicated in serious human rights violations, including: dragging and detaining relatives of fallen soldiers at the “Yerablur” Military Pantheon on September 21, 2022; beating former President Robert Kocharyan’s son, Levon Kocharyan, inside a police vehicle on September 22, 2023; and the group assault of opposition MP Ashot Simonyan on May 27, 2024, among other incidents. None of the officers involved has faced criminal accountability.
The events described above are clearly visible in the following livestream recordings, which were also used in preparing the synchronized video․
- ABC Media
⦁ HAYELI AM
⦁ MediaHubTV
⦁ AntiFake TV
Armenian Center for Political Rights
