Armenian opposition prime ministerial candidate sues Pashinyan

Opposition candidate for Prime Minister of Armenia takes Pashinyan to court

Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, who is under house arrest and heads the "Strong Armenia" bloc, has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He is demanding a public apology for offensive remarks and compensation in the amount of 3 million drams, which is about 8.3 thousand dollars.

Information about the lawsuit is posted in the Armenian judicial information system Datalex. At the same time, the published data does not specify which exact words of Pashinyan Karapetyan considers offensive. It is only known that this concerns the Prime Minister's remarks made during a public speech on May 29, 2026.

It is assumed that the reason for going to court could be Pashinyan's statements made on the same day as part of the election campaign. At that time, the Prime Minister commented on Karapetyan's words about his alleged use of hallucinogenic mushrooms and stated that the businessman himself uses such mushrooms.

Karapetyan also demands that the apology be published on Pashinyan's official website and on his Facebook page. In addition, the businessman's side is asking to recover 3 million drams from the Prime Minister as compensation for the insult and to reimburse legal expenses, including the state fee and attorney fees.

Karapetyan himself has been under house arrest since January 2026. In April, the Anti-Corruption Court of Armenia extended this preventive measure for another three months.

Karapetyan was arrested in June 2025 on charges of public calls to seize power. Later, he was also charged in cases of money laundering on an especially large scale and tax evasion. The businessman does not plead guilty to the charges.

The criminal prosecution began after Karapetyan's public statements in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid the conflict between the church and Pashinyan's government. Following these statements, the Prime Minister himself called the businessman's position a threat to Armenia.

Samvel Karapetyan owns the "Tashir" group of companies. In February 2026, his supporters nominated the businessman as a candidate for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia from the "Strong Armenia" bloc. At that time, he was already under house arrest.