Armenian police detains Samson Khachatryan, famous boxer and opposition activist

The five-time champion of the Soviet Union and two-time European champion in boxing, a member of the opposition Armenian National Congress (ANC) Samson Khachatryan was detained on charges of violent actions against the authorities of Armenia.

The "Caucasian Knot" correspondent was informed at the press service of the ANC that on March 13 at about 4:00 p.m. near the Yerevan "Dynamo" stadium a group of unidentified persons in masks took the opposition activist Samson Khachatryan to some unknown place.

As it turned out later, the famous boxer was subject to detention by the police and was kept in custody at the police station of community "Centre". Samson Khachatryan is suspected of committing a crime under the article of "use of violence against a power official not harmful for his life or health."

Ara Zakaryan, Khachatryan's advocate, told journalists that Samson Khachatryan was detained because of his verbal skirmish with policemen dressed in civilian clothes during the rally of the ANC on March 1 this year.

Arman Musinyan, press secretary of the ANC, told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the detention of Samson Khachatryan was an obvious political action. He expressed surprise that the police detained Khachatryan 13 days after the rally. In his opinion, Mr Khachatryan's detention was decided after his interview to the newspaper named "The Fourth Self-Power", in which the famous boxer sharply criticized the authorities and urged them to resign. "The authorities are concerned about the influence of the authoritative athlete," said Musinyan.

The Armenian police confirmed to the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent the information about detention of Samson Khachatryan. Under the legislation, accusation against him should be presented within 72 hours.