Police arrested the mayor of Armenia’s second-largest city on bribery charges on Monday, hauling him out of his office while crowds protested outside, as authorities crack down on government critics before an election next year.
Vardan Ghukasyan, the mayor of Gyumri, is an ally of the pro-Russian opposition leader Robert Kocharyan, who served as Armenia’s president from 1998 to 2008.
Led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who swept to power
