Armenian opposition podcaster's health deteriorates amid hunger strike, lawyers say

Lawyers for Armenian opposition podcaster Narek Samsonyan claim that his health has deteriorated after he began an open-ended hunger strike in protest against his continued detention, calling the criminal case against him and a co-defendant politically motivated.

Samsonyan, co-host of the Imnemnimi podcast, has been on hunger strike since a court extended by three months the pre-trial detention of him and fellow co-host Vazgen Saghatelyan on Jan. 9, his lawyers Ruben Melikyan and Astghik Matevosyan, who is Samsonyan’s wife, told a news conference on Saturday.

Matevosyan visits Samsonyan daily and monitors his condition, while Melikyan stressed the lawyers have recently raised concerns about a worsening of his health.

The two men have been in custody since Nov. 13, 2025, after authorities opened a case following a complaint by National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan over comments made on their podcast. The two bloggers have been charged with hooliganism through the use of information and communication technologies under Article 297(2) of Armenia’s Criminal Code.

Their lawyers argue the case criminalizes free speech and say no legal assessment has been made of Simonyan’s own conduct, which preceded the podcast remarks.

On Nov. 12, masked National Security Service officers carried out searches at the homes of both men and at the offices of news website AntiFake.am, seizing video equipment. Two AntiFake journalists were briefly detained and later released.

Human rights lawyers, political and public figures have criticized the arrests as an attack on freedom of expression.