A Yerevan court today approved lengthening the pre-trial detention of Artur Asatryan (aka Don Pipo), the shadowy criminal figure arrested on June 16 on kidnapping and illegal arms possession charges, for another two months.

Asatryan lawyer Gegham Hakobyan described the court’s decision as baseless, arguing that the state prosecutor had failed to provide any new evidence to keep his client detained.

Asatryan is charged with the kidnapping of three individuals -Arkady Kochinyan, Artak Ayvazyan and Vazgen Ghazakhetsyan – who were part of a group allegedly planning to murder him.

Arrested on June 16 in Etchmiadzin, Asatryan was also charged with one count of illegal arms procurement/possession (Criminal Code Article 235. Pt. 2).