Court ruling in Samvel Karapetyan’s case to be published on September 8 – lawyer

The appeal filed by businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan regarding the apparent illegality and baselessness of his detention—which has lasted for nearly 80 days—is, for unclear reasons, being reviewed in written form. The court ruling is scheduled to be published on September 8, according to Aram Vardevanyan, a member of Karapetyan’s legal team.

“On June 17, 2025, the head of the executive branch posted the following on Facebook: ‘Now I will interfere in my own way…’ This statement was clearly directed at a specific individual, and just hours after it was published, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan was unlawfully detained and remains under arrest to this day.

Any legal professional might ask: can the phrase ‘we will participate in the defense of the Church in our own way’ serve as grounds for initiating a criminal case, or even justify holding someone in custody? The answers to these questions are unequivocal:

1. The initiation of the criminal case is unlawful;
2. There is no connection to any article in the Special Part of the Criminal Code;
3. The detention is clearly illegal.

The obstacle to enforcing these clear conclusions is the well-known statement from June 17.

This is precisely what makes the political persecution of Samvel Karapetyan undeniable. It is a manifestation of retaliation and imprisonment as punishment by law enforcement officials, despite clear local and international obligations that explicitly prohibit such actions.

It remains unclear why the appeal regarding the obvious illegality and baselessness of his detention—which has lasted nearly 80 days—is being reviewed in written form, and why the court ruling is scheduled for September 8,” Vardevanyan emphasized.