The Armenian Prosecutor's Office has overturned the decision to arrest Artur Osipyan.
The prosecutor decided to lift the pretrial detention of Artur Osipyan, a refugee from Nagorno-Karabakh who was detained after an argument with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during a campaign for the Civil Contract party.
As reported by Kavkazsky Knot, on May 22 it became known that Artur Osipyan, a Karabakh activist arrested in Yerevan, had gone on a hunger strike, demanding an apology from Nikol Pashinyan. Observers believe Osipyan's persecution is politically motivated, as he has not broken the law. On May 25, activists in Yerevan came to the Armenian government building demanding Osipyan's release.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan used insults and threats during meetings with voters in response to questions from refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh. Afterward, clinic employee Armine Soghoyan, who asked about casualties in the Karabakh wars, was asked to resign, and Artur Osipyan was detained. He was charged with hooliganism, incitement to violence, and obstructing a campaign. On May 20, the court sent him to a pretrial detention center for two months.
The cancellation of Artur Osipyan's pretrial detention was announced by Lusine Martirosyan, press secretary of the Prosecutor General of Armenia, on her Facebook page*.
"The supervising prosecutor, among other things, taking into account the petitions of a group of civil society representatives addressed to the Prosecutor General and the supervising prosecutor regarding his readiness to provide surety for the accused Artur Osipyan, made a decision on June 10, 2026, to cancel the pretrial detention measure applied to Artur Osipyan," her statement reads.
The decision has been sent to the Nubarashen Penitentiary Institution of the Ministry of Justice for his immediate release. Osipyan.
Artur Osipyan led the opposition "Revolutionary Party" in Nagorno-Karabakh and was a co-founder of the "My Right" movement. He is known for fighting corruption, and during the blockade of Nagorno-Karabakh, called for a peaceful march to unblock the Lachin corridor.
Earlier, Armenian Ombudsman Anahit Manasyan visited Nubarashen, where she met with Artur Osipyan, who is on hunger strike, News.am reports.
After the meeting, the Ombudsman stated that, without interfering in the activities of the judiciary, she considers it important to bring up for discussion the possibility of using alternative preventive measures to arrest. Manasyan also explained to Osipyan the possible negative consequences of a prolonged hunger strike for his health.
The Civil Contract Party, led by current Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, won the country's parliamentary elections, garnering 49.81% of the vote. Pashinyan's party's victory in the parliamentary elections made the Kremlin look like the losing party, Russian political scientists interviewed by the "Caucasian Knot" noted.