Two Men Sent to Pretrial Custody over Incident Involving MP Enzel Mkoyan

The Prosecutor’s Office announced that the local court in Akhaltsikhe, southern Georgia’s Samtskhe-Javakheti Region, has sent two persons charged with hooliganism in connection with the shooting incident that occurred in Akhalkalaki on March 26 to pretrial custody. Enzel Mkoyan, majoritarian MP from Akhalkalaki and Ninotsminda constituency, and his nephew were also involved in the incident.

In a statement released on March 31, the Prosecutor’s Office said that on March 26, 2020, at approximately 15:30, two persons identified as S.P. and A.M. violated public order near a local café by firing several shots from their firearms.

The Prosecutor’s Office noted that police arrested the perpetrators on March 28. They will face imprisonment from four to seven years once their guilt is proved.

In response to the court ruling, MP Enzel Mkoyan posted on his Facebook page on March 31 that the incident that took place in Akhalkalaki on March 26 was an attack aimed to kill him.

He clarified that Akhalkalaki resident Samvel Petrosyan, former lawmaker from the United National Movement and presently member of the Alliance of Patriots party, verbally insulted his 12^th-grader nephew, Armen Mkoyan. Later, the incident turned violent after relatives of the both sides got involved.

Enzel Mkoyan noted that the incident took place near his house, adding that he came out to defuse the conflict and called on the conflicting sides to disperse.

“The situation was already defused, when Samvel Petrosyan, former chief of Akhalkalaki police, came to the incident site, getting off his car and heading towards his son. He told his son to go home, saying that he will settle scores with me. Then, he turned towards me and fired three shots from close range,” Enzel Mkoyan wrote.

He also noted that one of the detainees is his nephew, who fired in the air from a non-combat firearm just to protect his uncle.

Mkoyan also posted a relevant video footage on his Facebook page.

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