Former Education Minister Ashotyan arrested in Armenia

An Armenian court has remanded former Education Minister and Republican Party Deputy Chairman Armen Ashotyan in custody on charges of money laundering and abuse of office. The former president's supporter was arrested following the Republican Party's withdrawal from the parliamentary elections.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot," on June 5, it was reported that former Armenian Minister of Transport and Communications Gagik Beglaryan had been arrested as part of a criminal investigation conducted by the Anti-Corruption Committee. Beglaryan is accused of laundering large sums of money and abuse of office.

Armen Ashotyan, Deputy Chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), has been arrested for a month on charges of abuse of office and money laundering, News.am reported today.

Ashotyan, the former Minister of Education and Science of Armenia, is one of the high-ranking officials against whom the Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case for abuse of office and money laundering, Armenpress reports.

Former Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan, former Finance Minister Gagik Khachatryan and his son Artem, as well as the former rector and vice-rector of Bryusov State University, have also been arrested in this case, the publication reports.

This is a shameful decision

Ashotyan's lawyer, Tigran Atanesyan, stated that the court's decision is unfounded and lacks sufficient legal argumentation. "This is a shameful decision... They decided to arrest Ashotyan. There is no argument. I cannot work with this level of jurisprudence; this is not jurisprudence," Sputnik Armenia quotes him as saying.

As a reminder, the Republican Party of Armenia will not participate in the elections "for the first time in the party's 36 years of existence," RPA executive member Artak Zakaryan said in April.

Earlier, the leader of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), former President Serzh Sargsyan explained the party's withdrawal from the elections by the desire to "give people the opportunity to soberly, unemotionally express their will, and to allow other opposition forces the opportunity to unhinderedly fulfill their promise of a change of power through elections."

Armenian parliamentary elections are scheduled for tomorrow, June 7. The "Strong Armenia" bloc of businessman Samvel Karapetyan, the "Armenia" bloc of former president Robert Kocharyan and the "Prosperous Armenia" party of oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan are the most pro-Russian participants in the upcoming elections. According to analysts, the parties of Samvel Karapetyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and Robert Kocharyan will be key competitors in the elections.

At the same time, Russia's recent political steps, which have increased political and economic pressure on Armenia, have strengthened the beliefs of both pro-Russian and pro-Western voters.

The June elections will effectively be a referendum on the future of the current government and Armenia's foreign policy, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia".