Stepanavan: Strong Armenia candidate Arsen Gevorgyan dies in pre-trial detention at Nubarashen prison
- Published
- Place
- Yerevan, Armenia
- Event date
- Past event —
Summary
Arsen Gevorgyan, who headed the opposition Strong Armenia party’s list in the 25 October local elections in Stepanavan, in Lori province, died on the morning of Tuesday, 10 November, at Nubarashen prison in Yerevan, where he was being held in pre-trial detention. According to the penitentiary service, an ambulance was called at around 7:55 am for an inmate born in 1980 whose health had deteriorated; his death was recorded at around 8:30 am. Several media outlets reported a heart attack, which has not been officially confirmed. Arrested on 21 October, four days before the vote, along with 13 other people, he had been remanded in custody for two months by the Anti-Corruption Court. The Anti-Corruption Committee accused him of buying, as part of a group, the votes of several dozen voters. He denied the charges. No verdict had been delivered.
Analysis
Strong Armenia, the party of businessman Samvel Karapetyan, blames the authorities. “Responsibility for the death of yet another opposition figure in prison lies with the person on whose orders hundreds of people are groundlessly discredited and arrested,” it said, an implicit reference to Nikol Pashinyan. The death comes amid a fierce battle over the draft new constitution. CivilNet recalled a precedent: in July 2022, producer Armen Grigoryan, also in pre-trial detention, died during a court hearing in Yerevan.
Possible consequences
The penitentiary service has not given the cause of death. In Stepanavan, Strong Armenia won 19.68% of the vote, behind Gortsarar (41.54%) and the Prime Minister’s Civil Contract party (35.32%). Its request to annul the vote was rejected on 1 November.
