Homeland Party leader Artur Vanetsyan has denounced the Armenian authorities over the rearrest of opposition activist Avetik Chalabyan.

Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan of the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction ordered his arrest for three more months at a hearing on Wednesday.

“Being in agony, the cowardly authorities have proven once again that the only support of their power remains the law enforcement system, which obediently serves them,” he wrote on Facebook.

“Freedom to all political prisoners!” Vanetsyan added.

Chalabyan, a co-founder of the Arar Foundation and a member of the Consolidation Movement, was first arrested on 14 May for allegedly trying to pay students of the Armenian National Agrarian University to participate in anti-government protests in Yerevan. He was released from custody after his arrest period expired on July 27.

Chalabyan dismisses the charges as politically motivated. He has accused Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of “persecuting” him and his family members.