Black Panther Commander Placed Under House Arrest

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A court in Armenia placed the commander of the Black Panther volunteer unit Serob Gasparyan, suspected of preparing to seize power, under house arrest. He has been in custody since September of last year.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in September 2024, the Investigative Committee of Armenia announced the prevention of a coup d'etat, which was being prepared by a group of residents of the country, including people from Nagorno-Karabakh. According to the security forces, the group members underwent combat training in Rostov-on-Don in order to seize power. Three people were detained, and four more were put on the wanted list. One of the suspects is the commander of the Black Panther volunteer unit, Serob Gasparyan, who refused to plead guilty.

A court in Armenia has placed the leader of the Black Panther, Serob Gasparyan, under house arrest. He has been in prison since September 2024, News.am wrote on August 25.

Gasparyan's lawyer, Alexander Kochubaev, called his client's stay in prison "too long," and lawyer Roman Yeritsyan said that the decision made by Judge Gagik Harutyunyan can be considered "an exemplary manifestation of justice."

The "Caucasian Knot" also wrote that in June, security forces conducted more than 90 searches in connection with the case of preparing to seize power in Armenia. By a court decision, the leader of the Sacred Struggle movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and 14 other people have been taken into custody. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that a coup d'etat had been prevented and published a document with the text of the opposition's alleged plan to remove him from power. Security forces detained the head of the Shirak Diocese, Mikael Ajapayan (also referred to in the media as Mikael Ajapakhyan), who voluntarily came to the Investigative Committee. He was charged under Part 2 of Article 422 of the Criminal Code, which provides for imprisonment for two to five years. The court remanded him in custody for two months. On August 21, the court extended the arrest period of Galstanyan and other defendants.

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