Three Strong Armenia representatives arrested in voter bribery case

A court has arrested three representatives of "Strong Armenia" detained on charges of vote-buying. Party leader Samvel Karapetyan has once again been denied release from house arrest.

As "Caucasian Knot" reported, on April 29, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia reported on a series of arrests in a vote-buying case. Following searches, five representatives of "Strong Armenia" were detained, whose names the agency did not disclose. The agency stated that voters were offered money in exchange for votes for the party in the upcoming parliamentary elections, as well as for participating in rallies.

Three people speaking on behalf of the Strong Armenia party and detained on April 29 in connection with bribery of voters have been placed under arrest, the Anti-Corruption Committee reported to News.am on April 30.

The arrested are representatives of the party's office in Yerevan's Avan district. The court has sentenced them to two months in pretrial detention, party spokesperson Marianna Ghagramanyan said.

"Three people have been arrested in connection with this case, and two months' imprisonment has been imposed on them," Armenia Today quotes her as saying.

A member of the "Strong Armenia" electoral list has been placed under house arrest

Ghagramanyan did not specify the status of the other two people detained on April 29, noting that she does not have details of the criminal proceedings. She, however, described the persecution of the party's supporters as political persecution. According to Ghagramanyan, the investigation presented conversations about the salaries of Strong Armenia office workers as evidence of "material incentives" for voters.

The Investigative Committee of Armenia, in turn, reported on April 30 that another representative of "Strong Armenia" had been placed under house arrest: V.A., a member of the Council of Elders of the Gyulagarak community and included on the party's electoral list. He is suspected of bribing residents of Armenia's Lori region to participate in a rally in support of "Strong Armenia," which took place in Yerevan on April 11.

According to investigators, V.A. "coordinated the gathering of participants, their transportation to Yerevan, provided food, and distributed funds." The agency noted that the politician is also banned from leaving the country, according to "Golos Armenii."

Karapetyan denied release

Also on April 30, the Anti-Corruption Court refused to release Strong Armenia leader Samvel Karapetyan from house arrest. The defense requested that Karapetyan's house arrest be replaced with administrative supervision, but the court rejected the motion, the Novosti-Armenia news agency reported. Karapetyan's Strong Armenia party has submitted documents to the Central Election Commission to participate in the National Assembly elections, which will take place on June 7. According to analysts, the parties of Karapetyan, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, and former President Robert Kocharyan will be key competitors in the elections. Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia, along with Robert Kocharyan's Armenia bloc and Gagik Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia Party, is one of the most pro-Russian parties in the Armenian parliamentary elections. The Kremlin is backing Karapetyan, but he is legally barred from participating in the elections, Armenian political analysts previously noted. The "Caucasian Knot" has prepared a report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia".