Arsen Babayan is a political hostage rather than a political prisoner because his illegal detention aims to put pressure on certain political processes, that is, his illegal detention is not connected with his political activities. Narek Malyan, the leader of “VETO” social-political movement, announced this at the court today, October 23, noting that now we witness that the "hunting of godchildren" has begun and that the government is using the nethermost tools of its toolkit to achieve political ends.
The court is considering Babayan's arrest at the moment, as well as the motion to arrest him. “VETO” social-political movement representatives, along with a number of other citizens, are in front of the court to express their support for Babayan.
In Malyan's words, all this also seems ridiculous to him, as powerful authorities would never enter into a fight with such a toolkit, because the saying "if there is a man, we will find a criminal article" was prevalent in the 1930s; “It seemed to us that it was some ferocious period that could never concern us, but today we are witnessing it. That is to say, it has become a common working style for our authorities even to make up accusations against any person. This is a very low level political persecution, so simple, transparent that there is no need for any proof or assertion."