Armenian Politician Vanetsyan Arrested 

  • 15-Nov-2020
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Alleged Plot To Assassinate PM
An Armenian opposition leader was arrested on Saturday (local time) under allegations that he was plotting to kill Armenian prime minister. The development has come amid political turmoil in Armenia that started when the prime minister signed a peace deal with Azerbaijan that did not go down too well domestically.
Artur Vanetsyan, the opposition leader was arrested after he was summoned to headquarters of the Armenian security forces. His lawyers, who told AFP of the allegations Vanetsyan faced, refuted them.
Armenia Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has faced violent street protests and displeasure from political parties after he signed a peace deal with Azerbaijan to end the fighting over Nagorno-Karabakh region.Armenia faced heavy losses by technologically superior Azeri troops and Pashinyan agreed to cede large parts of the mostly Christian and ethnically Armenian region to Muslim-majority Azerbaijan in order to bring an end to the hostilities.

Vanetsyan, a former boss of Armenia's security services known for his links to Russia, was also briefly detained last week along with other senior opposition figures during anti-government protests which saw the prime minister called a "traitor".

Armenian security services announced the arrest late on Saturday of another unnamed man "with anti-government views" who was allegedly found in possession of a "large number of weapons."

He was preparing "an assassination attempt against a public figure and the seizure of power" in step with "politicians with anti-government views and their supporters."

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