Epress.am News from Armenia
Ashot Khudoyan's family, who was forcibly removed from across the street of the presidential palace early in the morning on Dec. 2, is under house arrest. This Ashot Khudoyan said to Emma Sahakyan, who is conducting a sit-in outside the presidential palace. The Khudoyans and their 4 children had resumed their protest on Nov. 28.
Sahakyan told Epress.am that Khudoyan managed to ask for a phone from someone passing by his house to call her. He said that police are prohibiting the family from leaving the house and the children cannot go to school, because when 15 people in civilian clothes picked them up yesterday, the police later forgot to bring their belongings (clothing and shoes) to Etchmiadzin where the family lives.
Visiting Khudoyan today was the Armenian Ombudsman's rapid response team. The Ombudsman's office informed Epress.am that staff did not see any police officers near Khudoyan's house and there is no house arrest. Staff said they spoke with Etchmiadzin police officers but they refused to provide the Epress.am correspondent with the details of that conversation.
Police spokesperson Armen Malkhasyan informed Epress.am that police did not detain the Khudoyans and the police doesn't know what's going on with the family. Note, the men in civilian clothing who removed the Khudoyans from outside the presidential palace yesterday refused to identify themselves while the police officers across the street did not make any attempts to intervene.
Also, the Khudoyans had been forewarned that on the day of Russian President Vladimir Putin's visit to Armenia the family would be removed from its place of protest.