- Shoghik Galstian
Riot police made several arrests on Friday as hundreds of supporters of billionaire and emerging opposition leader Samvel Karapetian demonstrated outside a court in Yerevan to demand his release from house arrest ahead of Armenia’s upcoming parliamentary elections.
The demonstration organized by Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party took place during a court hearing on investigators’ demand to extend the house arrest by another month. Some demonstrators jostled with security forces at one point.
According to the Armenian Interior Ministry, three of them were detained on the spot for ignoring police orders. One of Karapetian’s lawyers, Armen Feroyan, put the number of detainees at around 20.
The court announced no decision as of 10 p.m. local time. Another Karapetian lawyer, Aram Vartevanian, said the Russian-Armenian tycoon should be set free not only because the charges brought against him are baseless but also to ensure the integrity of unfolding “political processes” in the country.
Vartevanian seemed to allude to the June 7 elections. Strong Armenia is expected to be one of the ruling Civil Contract party’s main election challengers.
Karapetian was arrested last June hours after condemning Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s attempts to depose the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and vowing to defend it “in our way.” The statement provoked a series of furious social media posts by Pashinian. The latter pledged to “deactivate” the tycoon believed to be the world’s richest Armenian.
Law-enforcement authorities claim that Karapetian called for a violent overthrow of the government. They also charged him with tax evasion, fraud and money laundering in July after he decided to challenge Pashinian’s party in the 2026 elections.
The 60-year-old rejects all accusations politically motivated. He was moved to house arrest in late December.
Under the Armenian constitution, Karapetian cannot become prime minister because of his dual Russian citizenship. His party has made clear that it will try to remove this constitutional hurdle if it wins the elections.
Karapetian’s brother Karen was among the protesters rallying outside the court building. He said that any decision by the judge “will not change our behavior.”
“Whether we are in jail or stand in a bread line, we will keep fighting,” Karen Karapetian told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
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