Armenia’s Investigative Committee (IC), according to a Hetq source, has filed a motion with the court to detain the brother and nephew of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Gevorg and Hambardzum Nersisyan.

The two were arrested in the town of Vagharshapat yesterday on charges of hooliganism and obstructing campaigning in the run-up to the November 16 election to choose a new mayor and municipal council.

Republic party candidate Harutyun Mkrtchyan, in a Facebook post, alleged that the Nersisyans hampered his pre-election campaign.

 The Investigative Committee has not yet commented on the detention motion.

Ara Zohrabyan, a lawyer for the Nersisyans, described the allegations as false and urged the IC to rescind its decision to detain them.

Update: The court today issued a one-month pre-trial detention order for the two Nersisyans.