The detentions come less than a week after the two hosted a seven-hour episode of their podcast featuring former President Serzh Sarkisian, who sharply criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian over his handling of negotiations on Nagorno-Karabakh and the 2020 war with Azerbaijan.
But according to what RFE/RL’s Armenian Service has learned, the detentions are linked to the November 10 episode of the Imnemnimi podcast, in which the two hosts discussed Parliament Speaker Alen Simonian and allegedly used offensive expressions and threats.
Officers from the National Security Service (NSS) reportedly took Samsonian to the Investigative Committee after the search. An investigator confirmed that Samsonian has been charged with hooliganism.
Later, Parliament Speaker Simonian told the media that “all those who commit acts of hooliganism and make threats will be punished by law.”
“The most important thing is that, beyond emotions, insults, and slander, there is also a criminal element when someone makes a threat. That’s what this is about. We are going to have a different society – one where people do not stab each other. The reason for what happened to these guys was simple – living according to a criminal subculture in which one person humiliates another,” the parliament speaker noted.
“If a threat is made, what should I do? I couldn’t simply ignore it. I reported it. And I will continue to report such incidents in the future,” Simonian added.
The Imnemnimi hosts deny any wrongdoing. A lawyer for one of them insisted that they were merely responding to an offense initially made by the parliament speaker.
Simonian is demanding 2 million drams (more than $5,000) in compensation from Saghatelian, as well as a public apology on his personal social media page within five working days.
Earlier, Samsonian’s lawyer, Ruben Melikian, said he tried to enter his client’s apartment to attend the investigative actions but was not allowed inside.
Saghatelian wrote on Facebook that masked NSS officers had entered his home as well. His lawyer, Arsen Babayan, posted a photo from Saghatelian’s yard, saying he was not permitted to enter. Later, Babayan shared a video showing Saghatelian being detained.
The Investigative Committee confirmed that urgent investigative measures were being carried out as part of a criminal investigation but provided no further details.