Pashinian was targeted by the man, Albert Arstamian, last August as he visited a relative in Yerevan. The apple was thrown from an apartment block located in the same neighborhood as he walked through its courtyard.
Police detained Arstamian hours after the incident. He was later charged with “hooliganism” and released from custody pending investigation.
Arstamian, who risked heavy fines and/or a prison sentence of up to two years, denied the accusation during his subsequent trial. He also defended his action, saying that it was a legitimate “protest” against Pashinian’s policies which he believes led to Azerbaijan’s recapture of Karabakh and the mass exodus of the region’s ethnic Armenian population.
A Yerevan court of first instance acquitted the man at the end of the trial. The presiding judge, Arman Hovannisian, ruled that the prosecution failed to substantiate the “hooliganism” charge.
Arstamian’s lawyer, Roman Yeritsian, hailed the “very fair” ruling, saying that Hovannisian demonstrated that he is “committed to the mission assigned to him by the constitution.” Yeritsian insisted that his client exercised his constitutional right to freedom of expression.
The lawyer also predicted that the prosecutors will appeal against the verdict. They did not immediately make statements to that effect.
The August 2024 incident was not the first of its kind. In April 2023, law-enforcement authorities arrested and charged a woman who threw her umbrella at Pashinian during the prime minister’s visit to a village in Armenia’s southeastern Vayots Dzor province. Although the woman was set free shortly afterwards, she stood trial and received a suspended 2-year prison sentence. A local court also ruled in May this year that the umbrella must be confiscated and destroyed.