Armenia investigates two of Karapetyan’s affiliates for pre-election bribery

Two members of Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party, Gohar Ghumashyan and Verzhine Stepanyan, have been placed under investigation after being detained for allegedly violating a ban on handing out charities during the pre-election period.

The Anti-Corruption Committee announced on Tuesday that in March, ‘under the guise of charity’, two members of Karapetyan’s Strong Armenia party ‘provided financial assistance gratuitously to various residents’ of Armenia eligible to vote in the 7 June parliamentary elections. In another case, they also ‘promised to provide a service on preferential terms’.

It also published what appeared to be secret recordings of phone conversations, presented as evidence in the case.

The opposition, including the Strong Armenia party, swiftly condemned the arrest of the two women, emphasising that Ghumashyan is a mother of three children, one of whom she is still breastfeeds.

As a form of protest, party representatives brought milk bottles for toddlers to the Anti-Corruption Committee.

Strong Armenia called the arrest ‘another manifestation of [Prime Minister Nikol] Pashinyan’s panic’.

As the accusations against the two Strong Armenia members were voiced, the committee told the state-run media outlet Armenpress that a motion had been submitted to place Ghumashyan under house arrest instead of detention.

The case involving the two women is the latest of several similar cases launched in recent months against Karapetyan’s party, which, according to polls, is the main political opponent of Pashinyan’s Civil Contract in the upcoming elections.

Earlier in April, Armenian authorities arrested an employee of Karapetyan’s Our Way of Preservation of National Values NGO.

According to investigators, since February, the employee allegedly transferred a total of ֏500,000 ($1,300) to another individual who had also been hired by the organisation. Authorities claim the payments were not for work related to Our Way, but were instead intended to ensure the person’s participation in Karapetyan’s court hearings and other proceedings.

In March, the Investigative Committee reported that a Gazprom Armenia employee and his wife allegedly threatened a Tashir resident to coerce them into joining the Strong Armenia party and voting for it in the 7 June elections. The two are charged with impeding electoral rights, with the man being detained and the woman facing bail and travel restrictions.

Also in March, five people were arrested, with one being placed in pre-trial detention in connection with alleged election-related bribery linked to the Strong Armenia party. The party has denied the accusations.

Armenia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS) announced in March that it detected signs of possible foreign interference ahead of elections. The FIS said Armenians living abroad have reportedly been pressured to back certain political parties, without specifying the country behind the alleged interference.