Epress.am News from Armenia
Armenian citizen Anton Ivchenko (pictured) has been banned by authorities from leaving the country. The Yerevan citizen found out about the ban on September 19 when he went to the national police's passport and visa department in the city's Ajapnyak district to extend the exit permit in his passport.
Speaking to Epress.am Thursday, Ivchenko said the employees of the department refused to extend the permit, claiming that the electronic system was not allowing them to. They further inquired whether Ivchenko had dual citizenship, and upon receiving a negative response, the employees said they had no idea what was causing the issue and would send an enquiry to the department's headquarters.
Ivchenko told Epress.am that he was convinced his travel ban was directly related to the case involving anti-government artist Artak Gevorgyan. In December 2015, the pair were charged with hooliganism after Gevorgyan crashed a home-made cardboard tank into the gates of the country's National Security Service and surveillance footage showed that Ivchenko was standing behind Gevorgyan at the time. Both Gevorgyan and Ivchenko were released on their own recognizance, while charges against Ivchenko were dismissed in January, 2016, due to lack of evidence. Gevorgyan's case, however, was sent to trial in which he was also found not guilty. Despite being acquitted, Artak Gevorgyan is not allowed to leave Armenia either.
In a Friday interview with Epress.am, Ivchenko said that he was again called to the Ajapnyak office of the visa department today where he was told that they had yet to receive the decision lifting the preventative measure against him hence it being absent from the system. Ivchenko added that the office has requested the corresponding document from the police to be able to finally issue him an exit permit.