Karapetyan says 90% of election-related detainees belong to Strong Armenia party

Narek Karapetyan, a board member of the Strong Armenia party, says that roughly 90% of those detained during the campaign and post-election period following Armenia's June 7 parliamentary elections were members of his party, arguing that the arrests reflected the authorities' inability to pressure the opposition into compromising.

Karapetyan made the remarks during a meeting with supporters on Friday after being asked whether he was confident party members would remain loyal and resist pressure to defect.

"If someone is an opposition supporter by conviction, no amount of pressure can take away their principles," he said. "The fact that about 90% of those detained are from our party comes down to one thing: they haven't been able to strike a deal with us."

Attendees also appeared divided over whether the Strong Armenia bloc should take up the parliament seats it won in the elections.