A first instance court in Yerevan on Tuesday started hearings in the trial of opposition activist and politician Avetik Chalabyan.

Chalabyan, a co-founder of the Arar Foundation and a member of the Consolidation Movement, was arrested on 12 May for allegedly trying to pay students of the Armenian National Agrarian University to participate in anti-government protests in Yerevan.

The criminal case against the politician is based on a leaked audio of parts of conversations he and an Agrarian University lecturer had with the chairman of the university student council, Tornik Aliyan. The Investigative Committee claims he was offered 2 million drams in return for ensuring the presence of 2,000 students at opposition protests.

Chalabyan has denied any wrongdoing, calling his prosecution politically motivated.

Addressing the court, he stated that the trumped-up charges against him had been ordered by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. Also, he accused the premier of persecuting his family members.

“There is this regime leader, Nikol Pashinyan, who is persecuting me and my family. All evidence will be provided during the hearing,” Chalabyan said.

The oppositionist accused the law enforcement authorities of making every effort to illegally hold him in custody.

“Everyone clearly realizes that there is no corpus delicti and the case is fabricated,” he said.