Armenian police on Sunday detained an opposition MP after ten days of anti-government protests and accusations of a power grab levied against Serzh Sargsyan, the prime minister.
Nikol Pashinyan was picked up by officers at a demonstration in Yerevan on Sunday, following a televised interview between him and Mr Sargsyan, which the prime minister cut short.
Police said in a statement: "Despite repeated calls to stop illegal rallies, Pashinyan continued leading a demonstration". It added that he and two other opposition politicians "were forcibly taken from the site".
The prosecutor general's office said that Mr Pashinyan and the other two "were detained as they were committing socially dangerous acts".
As an MP, Mr Pashinyan is protected by parliamentary immunity and cannot be arrested without the approval of lawmakers. His whereabouts is currently unclear.
His detention came on the tenth day of mass protests against Mr Sargsyan, who assumed the role of prime minister on April 17 after two five-year terms as president.
In 2015, Mr Sargsyan tabled a controversial reform handing the main powers to the prime minister, a move that opposition supporters consider a power grab.
Mr Pashinyan challenged Mr Sargsyan to a debate at a hotel in Yerevan on Sunday, during which the prime minister said he was pleased the protest leader had "responded to my numerous appeals to negotiate".
However, Mr Pashinyan replied that there had been a misunderstanding, adding that he only wanted to discuss the terms of the leader's resignation and the "terms of a peaceful and smooth transition of power."
"You don't understand the situation in Armenia. The power is now in people's hands," he said.
Mr Sargsyan, Armenia's former head of defence, stormed out of the interview, pointing out that Mr Pashinyan's party only won eight per cent of the vote, and accusing him of "blackmail".
At the rally, Mr Pashinyan urged police officers to "lay down arms and join in the protests" before riot police dispersed the crowd of thousands using stun grenades.
Journalists at the scene reported that dozens of protesters were also detained.
Demonstrators at the rally were protesting rampant corruption in Armenia's judicial system, police, and education, as well as poverty.
Since 2008, the poverty rate in Armenia has increased by two per cent to 29.8 per cent, according to World Bank figures.