The court extended the house arrest of Samvel Karapetyan.
The house arrest of the leader of the "Strong Armenia" party, president of the "Tashir Group" Samvel Karapetyan, has been extended for 2 months.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", in mid-April, the court in Yerevan extended the term of Samvel Karapetyan's house arrest for another three months. Karapetyan then expressed confidence in his victory in the elections.
Samvel Karapetyan was arrested after a public conflict with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan at the end of May 2025. Pashinyan sharply criticized the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) at a government meeting, and in response to objections from Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, he replied with insults on Facebook*. Armenian politicians and church representatives demanded an apology from Pashinyan for the insults to the Armenian Apostolic Church. The "Ayakve" initiative called on the Prosecutor General's Office to initiate criminal proceedings against Pashinyan. On June 9, Pashinyan called for the election of a new head of the Armenian Church. The confrontation between the Armenian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified in 2020 against the backdrop of the 44-day Karabakh war and the authorities' desire to establish relations with Turkey.
The prosecution demanded an extension of the house arrest for 3 months, but the court decided to extend the term for 2 months, reports the publication "News Armenia" today.
Commenting on the recent personnel changes in power and the limitations on his own activity due to two months of house arrest, Samvel Karapetyan told journalists that thanks to the implementation of a secret plan, the opposition managed to achieve the resignation of former parliament speaker Alen Simonyan, while Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was not even aware of what was happening, informs the publication News.am.
In response to a question about how the measure of restraint would limit his political activity and what would have happened if he had remained free, Karapetyan emphasized that in that case, the pace of power change would have been completely different.
"Of course, I would have been much more active if I were free, and we would have expelled Pashinyan faster. As for our secret plan, you are watching closely - according to this secret plan, we have already expelled Alen Simonyan. Pashinyan was not even aware," said the leader of "Strong Armenia". In his assessment, the "head of the mechanism" of power is no longer there, and now the Prime Minister has turned into a "headless horseman".
Karapetyan noted that the support of his associates and supporters gathering at his home helps him cope with the difficulties of house arrest more easily.
"Our team really softens this situation. We have a very good team, so we gather, say the right words to each other, inspire each other, and move forward," he said, adding that meetings with citizens at his home would continue, although not on the same scale as during the election period.
The politician also denied rumors that the judicial restrictions had impacted his export capabilities, clarifying the structure of his business: "No, we did not export anything to Russia, we worked exclusively in the domestic market."
It should be noted that Karapetyan is accused of five charges: tax evasion, embezzlement, money laundering, illegal activities through a legal entity, and public calls for seizing power and violently overthrowing the constitutional order. He does not recognize the charges against him.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the court arrested for two months the leader of the opposition party "Prosperous Armenia", billionaire Gagik Tsarukyan, who is accused of fraud and tax evasion.