Police use force against protesters in Yerevan on April 22
Law-enforcement authorities detained on Thursday several local government officials and other residents of Armenia’s Syunik province where Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan faced angry protests during an unexpected visit on Wednesday.
The state human rights ombudsman, Arman Tatoyan, suggested that at least two of them were mistreated in custody and accused Pashinyan of issuing illegal orders to investigators.
The detainees included Mkhitar Zakaryan, the mayor of the towns of Agarak and Meghri making up a single local community.
Scores of angry local residents insulted Pashinyan and blamed him for Armenia’s defeat in last year’s war in Nagorno-Karabakh as he walked through the towns on Thursday morning. The prime minister was jeered by a group of other protesters when he headed to Syunik’s capital Kapan later in the day.