July 10, 2025 - 12:04 AMT
Taron Manukyan's lawyer denied access to him

Lusine Martirosyan, attorney for Taron Manukyan—the son of National Assembly MP Gegham Manukyan—stated that not only was her client unlawfully detained, but she has also been prevented from seeing him.

“I have appealed to the Human Rights Defender. A legitimate question arises—if the alleged criminal case concerns Taron Manukyan, why was MP Gegham Manukyan’s mobile phone confiscated?” she said, according to Auroranews.am .

During the search, National Security Service (NSS) officers reportedly ransacked MP Gegham Manukyan’s home. Panorama.am reported that Manukyan’s phone was seized and his son Taron was arrested.

MP Manukyan provided details about the raid, describing the entry as based on a “ridiculous pretext.” He claimed both his and his son’s phones were taken illegally, along with a cassette marked “baptism.”

“Investigators and NSS agents entered early in the morning under the absurd excuse of searching the actual residence of my son Taron. They wanted to seize my phone. I explained that as an MP, they had no right. The court warrant did not mention me—it referred only to Taron. The search was baseless. They even took tapes from ‘Yerkir Media’ that were clearly labeled ‘baptism’,” he said, as cited by Sputnik Armenia via Pastinfo.

According to the MP, law enforcement also took one of his computers and subjected his phone to inspection.

“They were interested in a name that is now being targeted in political circles. They took me to the balcony to talk and tried to forcibly take my phone. I resisted, but there were too many of them—they seized it,” he said.

Manukyan emphasized that he directly told officers their actions lacked any legal justification and were merely obeying orders from Prime Minister Pashinyan.

Previously, the ARF reported that Arsen Martoyan, a member of the party’s Yerevan Committee, was also detained. The NSS conducted a search at the home of Gevorg Muradyan, member of the Yeghvard Municipal Council and head of the ARF Youth Union’s Central Board.