Samvel Karapetyan's legal team reiterates claims of persecution

The legal team of detained businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan has condemned recent judicial actions against him, calling them “beyond legal reasoning”.

In a statement issued on Monday, the lawyers criticized the Anti-Corruption Court’s August 15 decision to extend Karapetyan’s pre-trial detention by another two months. They noted that the court itself had previously acknowledged that even a “reasonable suspicion” had not been established regarding the economic charges against him, yet it still upheld a portion of the indictment, which bizarrely treated Karapetyan’s interview defending the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin as a “call to seize power” in Armenia.

The statement said the Court of Appeals had taken a similar position, rejecting both the defense and prosecution appeals. Both sides have since filed cassation complaints. The defense described the prosecution’s cassation filing as “remarkable”, since such a measure should be used only in exceptional cases.

“Apparently, it is not enough for the prosecutors that Samvel Karapetyan has been unlawfully detained for about 110 days. They now seek to justify absurd economic charges as well,” the statement read.

The lawyers also claimed that since August 15, the large investigative team of over 50 investigators has not carried out a single procedural action involving Karapetyan, while ignoring the defense motions and court orders. Instead, they said investigators recently filed another economic charge without factual basis or legal grounds.

“These actions defy legal reasoning,” the legal team stated, arguing that the case has taken on the clear characteristics of political persecution, referring to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s June 17 social media post promising retribution against Karapetyan.

The team also raised concerns about apparent leaks, noting that pro-government media reported details of the court’s upcoming detention hearing before the defense was even notified.

“The date of the next court hearing will be announced once it is confirmed,” the statement concluded.