Armenia doctor and lawyer claim sackings after criticising PM

Dr Arpine Soghoyan

A prominent Armenian doctor and a leading lawyer say they have been dismissed from their public sector roles in political retaliation for criticising Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government.

Dr Arpine Soghoyan, a senior gynaecologist with 21 years of experience, said she was forced out of her state clinic job on 13 July, two months after a public confrontation with Mr Pashinyan.

During an election campaign event on 18 May, Dr Soghoyan confronted the prime minister over the fate of her brother, a military doctor who went missing during the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war.

Mr Pashinyan reacted angrily to her questions, accusing her of having links to opposition leaders and promising to "wipe them off the political scene".

On the same day as the confrontation, other local residents also clashed with the prime minister. Artur Osipyan, an activist displaced from Karabakh, was subsequently arrested and accused of disrupting the campaign and calling for violence. He was released after staging a 23-day hunger strike.

Following the incident, Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan had publicly insisted Dr Soghoyan would not be dismissed for her political views.

However, Dr Soghoyan received a formal letter on 13 July from the clinic's director, Vartan Hakobyan, stating that her position as head of the gynaecology department had been liquidated.

The clinic cited cost-cutting measures under a new health insurance programme and alleged that she was in poor health.

Dr Soghoyan rejected these claims, noting that she had never taken a single day of sick leave in her 21-year career and was offered no alternative role. She told RFE/RL's Armenian service that her dismissal was entirely political.

Both the clinic director and Yerevan municipality spokespersons declined to comment further on the decision.

Opponents of the government claim that the sackings are part of a wider campaign targeting critics since the country's recent parliamentary elections.

Lilit Ghazaryan, the sister of an opposition election candidate, was also dismissed last month. She had served as the deputy head of the State Drug Control Agency for 22 years.

Meanwhile, Ruben Melikyan, a prominent human rights lawyer and academic, was informed that his teaching contract at Yerevan State University would not be renewed this September.

Mr Melikyan has taught law at the university for 23 years and has frequently defended opposition activists arrested under Mr Pashinyan's administration.

"I believe this is a direct result of my human rights activities," Mr Melikyan said.

The university's rector, Hovhannes Hovhannisyan — a former MP from Mr Pashinyan's ruling Civil Contract party — declined to comment on whether Mr Melikyan's political stance influenced the non-renewal.

The sackings follow the parliamentary elections on 7 June, which saw Mr Pashinyan’s Civil Contract party retain power by securing approximately 50% of the vote.