Artur Sargsyan, who was arrested last August and released in December for taking food to members of the armed Sasna Dzrer group holed up in a Yerevan police station after seizing it in July, has been detained and taken to the office of the Special Investigative Service (SIS).

Artur Sargsyan told Hetq that nine SIS officers visited his home in the Armavir Province village of Byuravan, telling him that he was being arrested.

Artur Sargsyan has been nicknamed the “bringer of bread” for driving his car through a police cordon on July 26 to take food to members of the Sasna Dzrer group.

Sargsyan’s brother Arsen said they took Artur away without handcuffs.

Tigran Yegoryan, Sargsyan’s lawyer, told Hetq that he couldn’t say if his client had been arrested or merely taken into custody. Yegoryan said he’d be able to say more after visiting the SIS office.

Arsen Sargsyan told Hetq that police visited their house several days ago, questioning him about his brother.

UPDATE: After visiting the SIS offices, this reporter was told that Artur Sargsyan has indeed been arrested on the charge of not showing up after being summoned to a case hearing. Sargsyan's lawyer, Tigran Yegoryan, says his client never received such a summons. Yegoryan says his client, now on bail awaiting trial on his own recognizance, may be placed in pre-trial detention. No decision in this regard has yet been taken.