Lawyer accuses Armenian authorities of 'telephone justice' in Samvel Karapetyan's case

An American lawyer representing jailed businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan has accused the Armenian authorities of exercising political control over the judiciary, alleging that court decisions are being steered by the government.

In a statement posted on social media on Tuesday, attorney Robert Amsterdam said a media outlet owned by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s family reported the extension of Karapetyan’s pre-trial detention before the judge announced the decision. The court later extended the detention by two months.

Amsterdam claimed the episode proves that “telephone justice” is being practiced in Armenia and that the judiciary “has been fully stripped of independence”. He stressed that Karapetyan has spent five months in pre-trial custody without “any substantiated evidence”.

The lawyer condemned the continued detention as a violation of legal and humanitarian norms and described it as a tool of political pressure.

Amsterdam also criticized the Public Services Regulatory Commission’s recent move to revoke the license of Electric Networks of Armenia, calling it an “economic assault”. He said the decision ignores an interim ruling by the SCC Arbitration Institute that prohibited such action.

“The coordinated nature of these steps has nothing to do with legal processes,” Amsterdam said, calling them acts of intimidation driven by political and personal interests.

He added that his legal team will use all available international legal mechanisms to defend Karapetyan’s investment and personal rights and challenge the government’s unlawful actions.