Lawyer says no progress in anti-corruption fight in Armenia

Armenia has made no tangible progress in combating corruption despite repeated public pledges by the authorities, human rights lawyer Arsen Babayan said at the opening of a workshop on corruption prevention on Wednesday.

Babayan, the founder of the AntiCor anti-corruption platform, said systemic corruption should not be reduced to simple bribery or the redistribution of illicit payments among top officials.

“Systemic corruption is not just about primitive bribe-giving or sharing money with those at the top,” Babayan said. “It’s much deeper and far more dangerous in its nature.”

He stressed that AntiCor is not a media outlet, but rather a tool for journalists, human rights defenders and public and political figures to access expert analysis and assessments.

“Over the four months of the platform’s activity, we have recorded that there has been no progress at all in the fight against corruption contrary to the loud statements we hear.”

Babayan recalled that upon coming to power, the current leaders promised to root out corruption and wage a decisive fight against it. “Yet we do not see these promises reflected on the ground,” he said.

The lawyer also pointed to Armenia’s corruption perception indexes, noting that the figures have remained largely unchanged for years. According to Babayan, this points to stagnation rather than meaningful reform.

Citing findings by Transparency International, Babayan said public trust in the government’s anti-corruption policy remains extremely low. Only 3% of respondents believe the authorities have achieved any success in fighting corruption, a figure he described as a sign of public disappointment rather than confidence.