Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court has decided to extend by another three months the house arrest of Samvel Karapetyan, the leader of the Strong Armenia party, businessman and philanthropist. The ruling was issued by Judge Vahe Dolmazyan, Sputnik Armenia reported.
The defense had petitioned to lift Karapetyan’s house arrest.
On June 17, 2025, a search was carried out at Karapetyan’s apartment after he publicly voiced support for the Armenian Apostolic Church, stressing that a small group, having forgotten Armenian history and the thousand-year history of the Armenian Church, had attacked the Armenian Church and the Armenian people. The next day, on June 18, he was arrested.
Karapetyan was charged under Articles 290 (failure to pay taxes, duties or other payments), 296 (money laundering) and 422 (public calls aimed at seizing power, violating territorial integrity, renouncing sovereignty or violently overthrowing the constitutional order) of the Criminal Code.
On October 13, it became known that the charges against him had been amended. A charge under Article 296, Part 3, Clauses 2 and 3 of the Criminal Code was also added, concerning money laundering on an especially large scale through the use of official or service powers or influence derived from them.
On December 30, the court changed the preventive measure, replacing detention with bail and house arrest. On the same day, the businessman was transferred from the penitentiary to his apartment.
