On June 30, the court took a decision to prolong the arrest of Analitik.am editor Ani Hovhannisyan for two more months, the editor's lawyer Liparit Hovhannisyan says.
The lawyer also notes that the investigation has brought to serious arguments for extending the arrest as the measure of restraint against Hovhannisyan. He says that he is going to dispute the court's decision.
To recall, on May 2, Armenian lawmaker Tigran Urikhanyan told the General Department for Combating Organised Crime, Armenian Police, that Ani Hovhannisyan regularly posted false data about him and his family, as well as about his activities as a lawmaker. Following the publication of the compromising materials, the MP met with Hovhannisyan for several times. The MP said that Hovhannisyan demanded 300,000 AMD monthly, otherwise, she threatened to keep publishing such materials. Afterwards, the lawmaker's representative continued the negotiations with Hovhannisyan. They agreed that the required money was to be handed by the 5th day of each month to the editor or to her assistant. After the money was handed to the recipient, the assistant to the Analitik.am director, the lawmaker and the manager of the press club were detained on May 3. Later, the director of the website was also detained. A criminal case has been instituted under Article 182.2.2 of the Armenian Criminal Code (blackmailing).