Mamikon Aslanian, who had governed Armenia’s third largest city for five years, was poised to regain the post of Vanadzor mayor. But two days before the inaugural session of the new city council empowered to elect the mayor, he was arrested and charged with illegally privatizing municipal land during his tenure.
The 50-year-old ex-mayor rejected the charges as politically motivated before and during his trial that began in June 2022. His lawyers repeatedly petitioned a judge of Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court presiding over the trial to release him pending a verdict in the case. The judge, Sargis Dadoyan, refused to do so until now, citing witness tampering concerns expressed by prosecutors.
Dadoyan agreed to free Aslanian on bail this time around over the objections of a trial prosecutor. The latter claimed that the ex-mayor could influence last remaining witness in the case who has yet to be cross-examined in the court. That witness is Arkadi Peleshian, Aslanian’s controversial former deputy whom Pashinian’s government installed as Vanadzor’s acting mayor in 2022.
Aslanian dismissed the prosecutor’s declared concerns when he spoke before the judge’s decision. The ex-mayor also continued to insist that he is a victim of political persecution. Yerevan-based opposition leaders have also described him as a political prisoner.
The Armenian authorities and the ruling Civil Contract party deny opposition claims that Pashinian ordered Aslanian’s arrest and prosecution to make sure that the Vanadzor municipality remains under his control. Opposition leaders have accused the prime minister of effectively overturning the local election results.
Shortly after the 2021 Vanadzor election, another court banned the new city council from choosing a mayor until it rules on an appeal against the vote results filed by a pro-government party. The ban remains in force two and a half years after the election.
Aslanian’s opposition bloc won most votes in that ballot. It was the most serious of setbacks suffered by Pashinian’s party in local polls held in 36 communities across Armenia on December 5, 2021.