The 33-year-old mayor, Arush Arushanian, said he will appeal against the latest verdict handed down by a local court. He will remain free pending higher court rulings on the appeal.
Arushanian already spent several months in jail before receiving in March 2022 a suspended prison sentence for assault and abuse of power. A Goris court also ruled at the time that he cannot hold any local government posts for the next five years.
The verdict was subsequently upheld by two appeals courts and took effect on July 24. Citing this fact, the Armenian Justice Ministry’s Probation Service told the municipal council of Goris on August 16 to remove Arushanian from office. The council controlled by Arushanian’s bloc rejected the demand, saying that an Armenian law on local government does not require it to impeach the mayor in such cases.
The Probation Service responded by accusing Arushanian of violating terms of his suspended six-month jail term and petitioning the Goris court to send him back to prison. The court essentially accepted the demand.
Arushanian claimed to be unfazed by the development when he spoke to journalists after the announcement of the ruling.
“If there is no such precedent, if I’m the first [incumbent mayor] to be jailed, I’m ready,” he said.
The once outspoken mayor also made clear what he will not step down even after his sentencing.
“Even if I’m in prison, we’ll find a way of running the town properly, and there will be proper governance here,” he said. “Nothing and nobody can break our will.”
“Arush Arushanian cannot be dismissed without the local council’s decision,” insisted his lawyer, Sergei Marabian. He too said that the council is not legally obliged to oust his client.
The Armenian Ministry of Territorial Administration, which deals with local government bodies, promised to comment on the lawyer’s assertion later on.
Arushanian, who has run Goris since 2017, was one of the four heads of major communities of Armenia’s Syunik province who demanded Pashinian’s resignation in the wake of the 2020 war in Nagorno-Karabakh. They joined former President Robert Kocharian’s opposition Hayastan alliance and were arrested shortly after June 2021 parliamentary elections on various charges rejected by them as politically motivated.
Arushanian has avoided publicly criticizing Pashinian for the last two years, fueling media speculation that he is no longer affiliated with the Armenian opposition. He has said that he does not regard the latest criminal proceedings launched against him as political persecution.