Tsarukyan ally condemns pressure on sports federations amid his detention

A senior member of the opposition Prosperous Armenia Party accused the Armenian authorities of targeting the country’s sports community after party leader Gagik Tsarukyan’s arrest.

Hrachya Rostomyan said in a social media post on Thursday that “repressive policies” by the government had extended beyond political figures to sports federations and athletes. He alleged that officials from the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports, along with military commanders, were pressuring sports leaders not to publicly support Tsarukyan.

Rostomyan praised Tsarukyan’s long-standing contributions to Armenian athletics, saying his support had helped athletes achieve victories on international stages. “Threats cannot break the will of winners,” he wrote, urging sports officials to resist intimidation and remain united.

Tsarukyan, a wealthy businessman and influential political figure, has been detained on charges of large-scale fraud and money laundering widely rejected as politically motivated.