The Pre-Parliament Civic Initiative has filed a complaint with Yerevan Police regarding a large banner huge on the outside of the Pak Shouka that it argues promotes hate speech.

The banner includes an image of one of its members, Garo Yegnukian, who has also been active in the movement seeking to halt further construction at the Yerevan landmark, labelling him as a “mason”, a “foreign spy” and a “grant-eater.”

The Pre-Parliament says that such a slanderous and insulting depiction of Yegnukian violates Article 397 of Armenia’s Criminal Code.

The Pak Shouka, the site of recent tense protests, was sold to MP Samvel Aleksanyan, who owns the Yerevan City supermarket chain.