- Naira Bulghadarian
A prominent opposition figure based in Gyumri was arrested on Thursday on charges which his lawyer and political allies said are part of government efforts to seize power in Armenia’s second largest city.
The Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) accused Martun Grigorian of violating a legal ban on pre-election benevolence. The law-enforcement agency searched his home and campaign headquarters in Gyumri ahead of the June 7 parliamentary elections. It released at the time wiretaps of a phone conversation purportedly substantiating its claim that Grigorian gave a local voter construction materials to repair his apartment.
Grigorian, who ran in the elections on the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party’s ticket, denies the accusation. The Prosperous Armenia leader, Gagik Tsarukian, was arrested on July 6 in a crackdown promised by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian. Dozens of other opposition members and supporters are also held in detention on election-related charges rejected by them as politically motivated.
“What happened this morning, namely the arrest of Mr. Grigorian, was expected to us,” his lawyer, Arsen Babayan, said, calling it “political persecution.”
Investigators already raided Grigorian’s home and arrested his father and son ahead of a municipal election held in Gyumri in April 2025. That did not prevent a local bloc led by Grigorian and three other opposition groups from collectively defeating Pashinian’s Civil Contract party. The leader of one of those groups, Vartan Ghukasian, was installed as mayor as a result.
Ghukasian was arrested and charged with bribery last October three weeks after Pashinian pledged to oust him from “the political and public arena.” A Yerevan court moved him to house arrest last month despite two more criminal charges leveled against him in June. The fresh indictments coincided with Pashinian’s calls for a snap municipal election in Gyumri which he said should take place “as soon as possible.”
Babayan and Liza Gasparian, a senior member of Grigorian’s Our City bloc, claimed that the latest arrest is also aimed at causing the opposition majority in the city council to collapse and pave the way for the vote sought by Pashinian.
“Our political team is a quite important component of the opposition camp,” said Gasparian. “So this [arrest] is definitely political pressure.”
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