Armenian opposition member arrested

Armenian authorities have arrested opposition politician Alik Aleksanyan, a member of the Strong Armenia party running in the June 7 parliamentary elections, on charges of money laundering and illegally financing protests.

The Investigative Committee said Aleksanyan, who founded and headed the Preservation of National Values in Our Way NGO in September 2025, recruited around 1,400 people under civil contracts that masked payments intended to incentivize participation in demonstrations organized by Strong Armenia and allied groups.

Between October 2025 and March 2026, the NGO allegedly received transfers totaling about 1.6 billion drams, €230,000 and $75,000 from entities linked to businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, including the Tashir Charitable Foundation, Intego Energo and Tashir Capital. Investigators say the funds, described as donations and loans, were of criminal origin and were laundered through salaries and service payments to recruited individuals.

Prosecutors allege Aleksanyan disbursed more than 763 million drams in wages and contract fees, while most of the employees did not perform actual work and were unaware of their supposed roles in the NGO.

Aleksanyan faces charges under Armenia’s criminal code for materially incentivizing participation in rallies and for laundering funds in particularly large amounts. He was arrested by police pending a court decision on pre-trial detention.