The expert assessed the struggle between the government and the opposition in Armenia
The Armenian authorities faced serious challenges, so they began to fiercely persecute the opposition. This was stated by Nikolai Silaev, a leading researcher at the MGIMO Center for Caucasus and Regional Security, in an interview with Izvestia.
"The policy of [Armenian Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan and the vacillation between the EU and the EAEU have led to a deterioration in relations with Russia. Moscow has imposed a number of restrictions of its own, as a result, the Armenian economy, tied to export and transit trade, suffers. We have already seen the farmers' performances, and it has not been long yet. An additional factor is that the ruling party did not perform very confidently in the parliamentary elections," he said.
The source added that in such circumstances, the ruling team is trying to solve two problems by harassing the opposition.
"On the one hand, Pashinyan believes that he is putting pressure on Moscow in this way. Allegedly persecuted politicians are very important to Russia, which will want to stand up for them, which will become a bargaining chip. On the other hand, pressure is exerted on opponents by itself. It is obvious that difficult times await the ruling party, and protests may grow. To prevent this from happening, it was decided to persecute the opposition in advance," he believes.
On August 27, the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia decided to detain former President Robert Kocharyan for a period of two months. The trial itself continued without the accused, because after the start of the hearing he was admitted to the hospital.
In parallel, another former president, Serzh Sargsyan, was given a written undertaking not to leave. In addition, the trial against the Primate of the Armenian Apostolic Church Garegin II and six bishops begins on August 28.
Read more in the Izvestia article:
The hunt for exes: why the Armenian authorities are destroying the opposition
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
