Blogger Hayk Yeghyan arrested for insulting Pashinyan on TikTok

Blogger Hayk Yegyan, known on TikTok as "Ayvazovsky," has been arrested on charges of insulting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

Lawyer Roman Yeritsyan reported the prosecution of prominent TikTok personality Hayk Yegyan. According to his lawyer, a criminal case has been opened against the blogger under the article on aggravated hooliganism (Part 2 of Article 297 of the Armenian Criminal Code).

Hayk Yegyan is accused of insulting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in TikTok videos. According to his lawyer, he was detained on February 24 and placed in a pretrial detention facility, and today a court in the city of Sevan in Armenia's Gegharkunik Province ordered his arrest. "Hayk has been taken into custody," Yeritsyan wrote on Facebook*.

The criminal case against the blogger with the nickname "Aivazovsky" was prompted by a denunciation from the chairman of a political party. In a statement, the politician stated that he considers insults to the prime minister unacceptable, since "he could become prime minister tomorrow."

"The Investigative Committee immediately detained the citizen and opened a criminal case," noted Roman Yeritsyan. The lawyer recalled that the Constitutional Court of Armenia had previously ruled unconstitutional the criminal article providing for liability for insulting officials.

"Hayk Yeghyan can be unconditionally added to the list of persons subject to political persecution; this should be publicly discussed and voiced," he concluded.

Journalists today asked Armenian Justice Minister Srbuhi Galyan about the persecution of Hayk Yeghyan. "Criminal prosecution for social media posts is legitimate if they contain elements of hate speech, discriminatory, or offensive statements that are subject to criminal liability," Novosti-Armenia quotes the minister as saying.

Galyan disputed the assertion that only opposition figures are prosecuted for hate speech, stating that she sees no "manifestations of discrimination."