Vardevanyan: Samvel Karapetyan`s arrest was aimed at disrupting the consolidation of the opposition

ArmInfo. The arrest of Strong Armenia party leader Samvel Karapetyan was intended to prevent the opposition from consolidating. Vice Speaker of the Armenian Parliament Aram Vardevanyan expressed this opinion in a conversation with journalists.

According to him, from 2018 to 2026, the current Armenian government has only one tool it has not abandoned and does not intend to abandon under any circumstances: arrests. "In no other matter has the government demonstrated such consistency as in the use of arrests. They were ready to declare, 'Artsakh is Armenia, period!' but subsequently forgot about Artsakh and today say not a word about the Artsakh people's right of return." "But they are consistent when it comes to arrests," Vardevanyan noted.

Meanwhile, as the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament recalled, the Criminal Procedure Code provides for numerous alternative preventive measures. "I urge you to study whether there has been even a single case in Armenia since the introduction of house arrest as a preventive measure, where, in cases that have generated widespread public outcry, an investigator or prosecutor, after transferring the accused to house arrest, appealed to the court to remand him in custody. You will not find such a case." Samvel Karapetyan spent seven months in Yerevan-Kentron Prison, after which, until yesterday, he was under house arrest. And he did not commit a single violation. "The fact that this is political persecution is an undeniable fact," Vardevanyan stated.

He expressed his conviction that the tightening of the pretrial detention measures is due to the authorities' attempt to impose the agenda of the "Aliyev constitution" on the Armenian public, and in this case, the parliamentary opposition. At the same time, Vardevanyan assured that this will not affect Samvel Karapetyan's position in any way. He specifically noted that the meeting of the opposition forces took place at the home of the leader of the Strong Armenia party. "This meeting, which was supposed to be held under the leadership of Samvel Karapetyan today, was his initiative. It is curious that Karapetyan was detained yesterday," the Deputy Speaker of the Armenian Parliament noted.

He expressed his conviction that law enforcement officers were informed of their plans through secret wiretaps. "But even the illegal arrest of Samvel Karapetyan did not prevent the opposition from holding this meeting and issuing a joint statement. I am confident that this consolidation agenda will be long-term. A strong Armenia will still exist. Difficulties exist to be overcome," Vardevanyan concluded.

As a reminder, on November 5, a court decision replaced Samvel Karapetyan's house arrest with a one-month detention. Notably, the arrest followed Pashinyan's statement that if the parliamentary opposition resisted the adoption of the new Constitution, the ruling majority would begin to generate public pressure. He also noted that "the authorities can formulate a proposal for the parliamentary opposition regarding the new Constitution that they will not be able to refuse."

On the same day, following a meeting held at the mansion of the leader of the Strong Armenia party, Samvel Karapetyan, 13 opposition forces issued a joint statement declaring their readiness to join forces to foster an atmosphere of public unity around national priorities and to address the challenges facing Armenia. They also called on all political forces, public figures, and community leaders to join this national unification.