Samvel Karapetyan rejected all accusations against him.
The leader of the "Strong Armenia" party, Samvel Karapetyan, accompanied by SNB employees, left the building of the Criminal Police in Yerevan. Karapetyan's associates pointed out the absurdity of the accusations and the political subtext.
As reported by "Caucasian Knot", law enforcement officers brought the leader of the opposition "Strong Armenia" party, Samvel Karapetyan, and his associate, parliamentarian Narek Karapetyan, to investigators after searches. Searches were conducted at 65 addresses in a case of abuse of power, theft, and money laundering. According to the investigation, from 2016 to 2024, Samvel Karapetyan organized the activities of a group of individuals allegedly involved in a number of crimes related to the activities of the Closed Joint Stock Company "Electric Networks of Armenia".
The leader of the "Strong Armenia" party, Samvel Karapetyan, accompanied by SNB employees, left the building of the Yerevan City Criminal Police Department. When asked if he acknowledged the charges against him, Karapetyan replied briefly: "Of course not." After that, Karapetyan, accompanied by representatives of the law enforcement agencies, got into a car and left, reports News.am.
Samvel Karapetyan's associates pointed out the political subtext
The authorities are paralyzing the work of the party, realizing that its office is located here, masking political motives. This was stated in a conversation with journalists on November 4 by a member of the "Strong Armenia" party, Goar Meloyan.
"Today we must present 635 members of the commissions for the elections, which are to take place on November 29 in the regions, but today we do not have such an opportunity, as searches are being conducted. Investigative actions have been taking place in the party's offices since morning, during which the names of companies unrelated to our political activities were mentioned," Meloyan noted.
According to her, documents, computers, and other items were being searched for in the office. "It is clear that if there was an election headquarters in this building, it has long been under increased control. It is obvious that nothing new will be discovered as a result of the searches. The Prime Minister stated in parliament that we will convince the opposition to vote in favor of the Constitution. After that, statements from other officials followed, and now the authorities are trying to exert pressure. Today's staging is solely related to the agenda of Aliyev's Constitution," Meloyan emphasized.
She stated that it is obvious that Pashinyan received a deadline from Aliyev for the rapid implementation of this agenda. In her opinion, the authorities are putting pressure on those forces that intend to defend their identity. "If the authorities were confident in themselves, they would have long conducted a referendum, but the people do not share the agenda of Aliyev's Constitution," Meloyan added.
Narek Karapetyan pointed out the illogicality of the accusations
The owner of "Electric Networks of Armenia" was Samvel Karapetyan; a person cannot commit abuses in their own company. This was stated in a conversation with journalists by the head of the parliamentary faction of the "Strong Armenia" bloc, Narek Karapetyan, commenting on the message from the Investigative Committee that Samvel Karapetyan allegedly caused multi-billion damage to the ESA, for which he was detained, and criminal proceedings were initiated against another 36 individuals.
"For example, if someone owns the newspaper "Aikakan Jamanak", they cannot commit abuses in their own newspaper because they are the owner. How can one question people's ability to think logically? This is his own company; it is 100% owned by him; everything there is his. What abuses by the owner are we talking about? Imagine you own something, you have a store: what abuses could there be in that store if everything in it is yours? The same goes for ESA. There is a well-known saying: if there is a person, an article will be found," the politician stated.
Narek Karapetyan expressed confidence that they would try to arrest Samvel Karapetyan. "They will 100% try to make him some kind of bargaining chip. It won't work; this person is not like that; he has a different character. In the process of their persuasion, they may bring charges against everyone; we are ready. And all this is for one reason - to push through Aliyev's constitution, as he has already completely surrendered to them," he said.
"Caucasian Knot" also reported that the idea of exchanging enclaves and exclaves between Baku and Yerevan sparked heated debates among Armenian and Azerbaijani social media users: both sides took categorical positions against the surrender of lands. Azerbaijani analysts, however, allowed for a coordinated exchange considering legal grounds and security interests but disagreed on the strategic value of the territories and the possibility of transferring Armenia's exclaves.