MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th November, 2020) Former Chief of Armenia's National Security Service (NSS) Artur Vanetsyan has been detained on suspicion of plotting the assassination of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and a coup in the country, the official's attorney, Lusine Sahakyan, said on Saturday.
The former NSS head has been participating in opposition protests demanding the prime minister's resignation after Pashinyan signed a joint declaration to put an end to the conflict in the disputed Nagorno-Karabakh region.
"Today, Vanetsyan was invited to the investigation department of the National Security Service and detained on suspicion of committing acts under the articles of complicity in the illegal acquisition, sale, storage of weapons; preparation of a coup; preparation of the murder of a state, political or public figure committed by a group of persons by prior conspiracy," Sahakyan wrote on Facebook.
According to the lawyer, it is no longer possible to comment on the detentions of opposition figures as a matter of law.
"This is a shameful political persecution aimed at maintaining power, bringing anti-state programs to an end," Sahakyan added.
