A first instance court in Armenia’s southernmost Syunik Province has ordered the arrest of judge Boris Bakhshiyan.
Presiding judge Davit Arghamanyan granted a motion of the National Security Service (NSS) to arrest him on Monday, Pastinfo news site reported.
Earlier last week, the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) approved a request of Prosecutor-General Artur Davtyan to allow the law enforcement authorities to prosecute and arrest Bakhshiyan, a judge of the Syunik Court of General Jurisdiction.
The decision came days after Bakhshiyan ruled to release jailed opposition figure and war veteran Ashot Minasyan on bail. He had also ordered the release of opposition Kajaran Mayor Manvel Paramazyan and Deputy Mayor of Goris Menua Hovsepyan.
The Prosecutor-General’s Office claims that the criminal case has nothing to with the release of Minasyan and is related to Bakhshiyan’s “baseless” order to arrest a defendant in a case he is dealing with. However, his lawyers reject the charges as “political persecution”.