Armenian court acquits blogger who called prime minister “traitor”

A criminal court in Armenia's capital, Yerevan, has acquitted blogger Artak Avetisyan, who called Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan a “traitor” during the pre-election period, his lawyer Ruben Melikyan has said.

The man was detained in mid-May after shouting “Nikol is a traitor” at the leader of the Civil Contract party, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

The blogger was initially detained for a month on charges of inciting hatred on political grounds and later charged with aggravated hooliganism.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov