Opposition members and supporters on Tuesday protested against PM Nikol Pashinyan outside the Armenian government building in downtown Yerevan.
Chanting “Armenia without Nikol!”, they held pictures of film producer and government critic Armen Grigoryan, who died during his trial in Yerevan on Friday, as well as illegally arrested opposition activists.
Addressing the protesters, opposition Hayastan bloc MP Gegham Manukyan blamed Pashinyan for the public figure’s death, saying his prosecution was politically motivated.
He recalled that a police car escorting Pashinyan’s motorcade struck and killed a young pregnant woman in Yerevan in late April, adding “no one has been held to account to date”.
"Armen Grigoryan was a famous public figure. Many people were shocked by his death, but don’t forget how many of our compatriots’ hearts stopped in the wake of the war, loss of homeland, surrender of hundreds of villages to the enemy, how many parents who had lost their children to the war died, and nothing was said about it. The man in the prime minister's office, who has brought death and war to the country for four years, is to blame for it all,” the lawmaker said.
“This man brings deaths every day. He will be remembered as “Nikol the murderer!” he added.
The protesters then began chanting “Nikol the murderer!”.