Karapetyan’s arrest is a political persecution on trumped-up charges

Samvel Karapetyan’s Defense Council issued a statement saying that the businessman and philanthropist was arrested based on an obviously unlawful decision by a judge unknown to the professional legal community. According to the defense, the charges are unfounded in criminal law and lack any elements constituting a criminal offense.

“The arrest was based on Karapetyan’s statement in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church, which was mistakenly interpreted as a public call to seize power. The defense believes that the case displays clear characteristics of political persecution, consistent with international standards.

On June 19, the detention order was appealed to the Criminal Court of Appeal. Complaints were also filed regarding the search and detention, which, according to the lawyers, were conducted with violations. It is notable that all these decisions were made by the same judge, whose name had not previously appeared in the professional community.

Currently, additional legal steps are being taken to protect Karapetyan’s rights and eliminate the violations. The defense promises to provide more detailed information about the content of the appeal and the circumstances of the case in the near future,” the statement reads.