A group of people, including political scientists and NGO representatives, on Tuesday held a rally outside the National Security Service of Armenia (NSS) in support of Ara Saghatelyan, a former chief of staff of the National Assembly, who has been placed under a two-month arrest in compliance with a court ruling.
Political scientist, head of the Voskanapat Analytical Center Hrant Melik-Shahnazaryan told reporters that they have gathered outside the building of the law enforcement agency to show both the public and the NSS investigators who Ara Saghatelyan is and how he counteracted the Azerbaijani propaganda machine to make Armenia's position clear and accessible to all those dealing with the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict.
“We have brought materials which we will hand over to the NSS so that they understand who they are dealing with. I deeply regret that the agency intended to ensure security, leaving aside the issues of national security, actually serves the traitor and makes every effort to complete the betrayal started by Nikol Pashinyan in regard to the Artsakh issue,” he said.
According to Melik-Shahnazaryan, people who can offer pro-Armenian solutions in the current situation are factually isolated.
The political scientist strongly believes that Nikol Pashinyan has a plan and is consistently implementing it.
“He did everything possible to pave the way for our defeat in the war and the surrender of our homeland to the enemy. He signed documents, which will make it difficult to rectify the situation. Now he orders arrests of people who did their best for the Artsakh issue to be properly covered by the international media,” he said.
The political scientist stated that during the 2020 Artsakh war, when Ara Saghatelyan worked with foreign media representatives in Stepanakert, coordinating their work and using his personal ties and opportunities, the NSS wiretapped his phone calls.
“Let me bring an example: Saghatelyan managed to change the situation overnight amid the anti-Armenian propaganda in the Ukrainian media from the first days of the war. He did his best to change the situation in our favor. On these very days, the NSS wiretapped Saghatelyan’s phone calls, but failed to find anything,” Melik-Shahnazaryan said.