Yerevan Mayor Tigran Avinyan has issued a stern reprimand to the acting head of the Public Order Service, Avet Babayan, and has sent him on indefinite leave.

Babayan is accused of issuing threats to journalist Hakob Karapetyan who had reprimanded municipal bus inspectors for incompetence after they had mistakenly fined a passenger for not having a ticket.

On September 12, 2025, Karapetyan left his workplace on Parpetsi Street in Yerevan and was confronted by a masked individual who began to beat him.

Karapetyan told Hetq that he ties the attack to his social media post criticizing local government officials two weeks earlier.

See: Journalist Says He Was Attacked for Criticizing Yerevan Officials