All of the detainees were understood to be residents of the southern town of Artashat. The Anti-Corruption Committee (ACC) claimed that they gave or accepted vote bribes, a charge rejected by Karapetian’s Strong Armenia party as politically motivated.
The law-enforcement agency, which also raided the party’s local offices, released audios of their online conversations which it said prove that “a group of individuals” affiliated with the party or working for a non-governmental organization linked to it have been engaged in vote buying.
Vahan Hovannisian, a lawyer representing Strong Armenia, insisted that financial issues discussed by them related only to their wages. Senior party figures likewise rejected the accusations as politically motivated.
Two other Strong Armenia activists were arrested on similar charges on Tuesday. Armenian courts released them from custody hours later.
Hovannisian echoed media speculation that these criminal cases could be used by the authorities to bar Karapetian’s party from running in the June 7 elections. Davit Ghazinian, a senior party member, did not rule out such a ban.
“We are ready for all scenarios, including the party’s non-registration [for the elections,]” Ghazinian told journalists.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian was accused by critics of planning to secure an election victory through fraud or foul play when it emerged in December that his administration requested election-related assistance from the European Union. The EU foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, revealed that Yerevan is seeking the kind of “help to fight foreign malign interference” which the EU provided to Moldova ahead of parliamentary elections held there in September 2025. Two Moldovan opposition parties deemed pro-Russian were barred from participating in the elections won by the country’s pro-Western leadership.
Karapetian, 60, has mostly lived in Russia since the early 1990s and has a dual Russian nationality. Pashinian’s political allies have accused the tycoon of plotting to topple the Armenian government on the Kremlin’s orders ever since he entered politics following his controversial arrest last June. In a series of statements made earlier this year, they said that the ruling Civil Contract party will not “allow” Karapetian’s party and two other major opposition groups to collectively win a majority in the next Armenian parliament. Pashinian claimed on Wednesday that they will struggle to win any parliament seats.
Russian President Vladimir Putin publicly warned the authorities in Yerevan from barring what he called pro-Russian opposition forces from the elections when he met with Pashinian in Moscow on April 1. Putin implied that the Armenian economy, which is heavily dependent on Russia, would pay a heavy price for such bans or Yerevan’s continued drift to the EU.
Karapetian’ movement, which has avoided making overtly pro-Russian statements so far, is now increasingly regarded as the country’s main opposition force. It held a big rally in Yerevan on April 11.