This is not a legal process but a political retribution scenario: Davit Ananyan on Gyumri events

Regardless of which aspects of the case under the Anti-Corruption Committee’s investigation are cited for the operations at Gyumri City Hall, or the legal grounds for the arrest of Vardan Ghukasyan, the crude and demonstrative nature of the actions clearly shows one thing: this is not a legal process, but a scenario of political retribution, writes Davit Ananyan, a member of the Wings of Unity political initiative.

“What is happening today traces back to roughly a month ago, to the Prime Minister’s direct ‘directive’ delivered from the National Assembly, which served as the signal to implement the mechanism for political persecution.

All of this once again proves that the current authorities continue to operate not according to the logic of a rule-of-law state, but through fear and terror, with a program aimed at ensuring their own reproduction. The authorities are attempting to restructure their existence through pressure, demonstrative arrests, and ‘judicial show trials’ against political opponents.

Such conduct not only undermines the foundations of statehood but also exposes the de facto lack of legitimacy of the current government. A legitimate government does not resort to terror methods to demonstrate its power or preserve its political existence. What we are witnessing today is nothing other than political terror driven by existential fear, targeting democratic institutions, the public, and public trust,” Ananyan wrote.