Yerevan Municipality began to dismantle a banner in defense of Karapetyan

Yerevan Municipality has begun to dismantle a banner in defense of businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan with his photo, which is posted on the building of the shopping center in the city center. Footage from the scene is published by Izvestia on June 30.

"For the second hour now, utility workers have been trying to tear down this banner from the facade of the Tashir shopping center, a banner in support of <...> with his portrait and the inscription "Freedom to Samvel Karapetyan," said Ivan Litomin, a correspondent for Izvestia.

As Sputnik Armenia reported earlier that day, with reference to Armen Arakelyan, head of the Mayor's Office for Advertising, the dismantling is carried out on the basis of the Mayor's decision No. 37-H dated November 18, 2009. According to him, the dismantling is carried out as a result of the allegedly illegal placement of an advertising banner, which the authorities had not previously been notified about.

However, lawyer Vardan Aloyan called the actions of the mayor's office illegal.

"This whole process (banner dismantling. - Ed.) contradicts the law, since it is not about an advertising billboard, but about a banner that is installed as part of an awareness campaign," the agency quotes the lawyer.

Aloyan also added that in the case of a lawful resolution, the mayor's office should have notified the owner about the removal of the banner. He also stressed that Karapetyan's defense plans to appeal the actions of police officers and the mayor's office in court.

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Karapetyan's lawyer Liana Gasparyan announced on June 18 that the Yerevan court had arrested Karapetyan for two months. She clarified that the businessman's defense intends to challenge the arrest and fight for Karapetyan's rights.

The businessman was charged with calling for the seizure of power in Armenia and arrested for two months. Armenian politician Arman Abovyan called the businessman's detention an attempt to weaken the influence of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC).