11:26, 3 April 2023

YEREVAN, APRIL 3, ARMENPRESS. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s son, Ashot Pashinyan, has been assaulted, Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan said Monday.

Simonyan revealed Ashot Pashinyan’s assault a day after being assaulted in downtown Yerevan himself.

“Yesterday Ashot Pashinyan was assaulted too. A few days before that, an ARF Member of Parliament attacked and punched Vladimir Vardanyan, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on State-Legal Affairs, some ARF [occurrence] commits a provocation from 100 meters away against the Speaker of Parliament in downtown Yerevan, and yesterday an attack against the Prime Minister’s son also took place. This is a series of organized provocations, and I am sure that the traces lead beyond our country’s borders, and the legal and political reaction to this will take place swiftly. Armenia will remain a democracy and will develop its democracy, there will be peace in our region,” Simonyan said on social media.

On April 2, the Speaker of Parliament was allegedly involved in an altercation with a passerby in Yerevan.

The passerby, Karen Mkrtchyan, a Diaspora-Armenian and registered ARF member, said on social media that he saw Speaker of Parliament Alen Simonyan in central Yerevan and called him a “traitor”. Mkrtchyan claimed that Alen Simonyan allegedly ordered his security detail to restrain him, and then Simonyan allegedly spat on his face.

Simonyan later issued a statement, acknowledging that an incident took place but neither confirming nor denying the alleged spitting.  He said that insults against the legitimate authorities of Armenia will receive a legitimate reaction.