Masis Mayor Davit Hambardzumyan taken into custody following assault conviction

Davit Hambardzumyan, the mayor of Masis — a small town south of Yerevan — was arrested on October 28 to serve a six-year and three-month prison sentence after being found guilty of assault.

Hambardzumyan has served as mayor of Masis since 2016. He was found guilty of armed assault against anti-government demonstrators in 2018 during mass protests against then-President-turned-Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan. Hambardzumyan, a member of the Republican Party, has denied any wrongdoing.

The trial lasted for more than six years. He was initially jailed but later released on bail in 2018.

Hambardzumyan was in Moscow on a visit when a court in Yerevan delivered the verdict on October 23. He pledged to return to Armenia. A video posted online showed police officers taking him into custody immediately after he exited the airplane at Zvartnots Airport on October 28.