Former Armenian Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan (1993-1996) has been acquitted on charges that he called for violence to topple Armenian PM Nikol Pashinyan during an April 4, 2023 speech to supporters of the Together Public Movement organization who has assemble outside the National Assembly building.

Hovhannes Kocharyan, Bagratyan’s lawyer, announced that the court has published the acquittal verdict.

Prosecutors argued that Bagratyan, that day, climbed onto the body of a truck serving as a platform and made a public speech using a loudspeaker urging people to “Eliminate that person, finish it. Eliminate that government with your strength, with your momentum.”

The defense argued that by using the words "eliminate" and "end," Bagratyan did not mean subjecting people to physical violence, but rather implementing a change of power through a popular uprising.