Detaining citizens for distributing leaflets in the streets is a criminally punishable act, Armenia\u2019s Special Investigation Service therefore has to look into and initiate criminal cases over such incidents, lawyer Tigran Hayrapetyan said in conversation with Epress.am, commenting on the recent incident with the family of jailed oppositionist Karo Yeghnukyan and members of the Armenian Women\u2019s Front (AWF) civic initiative.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday morning, Yerevan police detained opposition activist, AWF member Syuzan Simonyan during a rally on the capital\u2019s Republic Square. Halfway to the police station, however, the officers stopped the car and told the woman that she was free to go and that the incident was a misunderstanding. Simonyan refused to leave the car and demanded that she is taken to the police station to file an illegal detention report, the officers used force to make her leave.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey tricked me to make come out of the car. They said to fix their mistake, they\u2019d put me in a taxi and send me home. But they dropped me off, quickly got back into the car and drove off,\u201d Simonyan told the RFE\/RL\u2019s Armenian Service (Azatutyun.am).<\/p>\n