12:15, 28 July 2022

YEREVAN, JULY 28, ARMENPRESS. Chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF) Mourad Papazian says he is launching legal proceedings in order to restore his right to enter Armenia.

“I’ve decided to restore my right in the legal framework, and for that I have entrusted my court defense to Member of Parliament Artsvik Minasyan to represent me, and attorney Siranush Sahakyan, whom I authorize to handle the necessary actions,” Papazian said on social media.

He said that Minasyan has already filed a letter to the National Security Service on July 25 requesting a revision of the ban.

“By law, the NSS has 5 days to issue an answer, and based on that we will decide how to proceed,” Papazian added.

Papazian denied the Armenian authorities’ accusations that he organized the 2021 demonstration against PM Nikol Pashinyan’s motorcade in Paris.

On July 22, the Department of Information and Public Relations of the Prime Minister’s Office said that Papazian, the Chairman of the Coordination Council of Armenian Organizations of France (CCAF), a citizen of France, was barred from entering Armenia pursuant to law because he was among those who “organized the attack” on the official motorcade of the Armenian PM’s delegation in France earlier in June, 2021.