Sagatсelyan: The arrests of opposition leaders are necessary for the Armenian authorities to make new territorial concessions in Tavush and Ararat

ArmInfo. The leaders of the Armenian opposition are under arrest because Armenia is being led toward new concessions, first in Tavush and then in the Ararat Province. Opposition faction “Armenia” member of the National Assembly of Armenia and representative of the Supreme Body of the ARF “Dashnaktsutyun” (ARFD) Ishkhan Saghatelyan stated this in the Armenian parliament on September 22.

He recalled that today, three candidates for the post of Prime Minister of Armenia from the main opposition forces that participated in the regular parliamentary elections on June 7 are in prison. In addition, Saghatelyan added, numerous representatives of local self-government bodies are also under arrest. “For example, Artur Sargsyan (former mayor of the city of Sisian - ed.), as well as numerous members of our team who participated in the latest elections. In other words, let us clearly record this: the top-listed candidates or candidates for prime minister from the three main opposition forces that participated in the elections are under arrest. There is no question here of a legal process. This is direct pressure and the result of an agenda being imposed on us. In other words, all these people are under arrest because Armenia is being led toward new concessions, and the authorities need to carry out this agenda without hindrance,” the opposition figure stated.

He explained that this is being done in order to neutralize any possible resistance and opposition in the country. “This is exactly what is happening in Armenia now. And although Tigranashen (Ararat Province) is being discussed now, it is obvious that before that, the authorities intend to concede territories in Tavush. And it is obvious that this may happen in the near future, since the authorities are not even hiding it,” Saghatelyan added.

The deputy recalled that in 2024, these attempts in Tavush met with strong resistance. According to him, in order to neutralize this resistance today, attacks are being carried out against the opposition forces and the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). At the same time, Saghatelyan is confident that it will be possible to prevent all this when political forces and society are ready for full-fledged opposition. “I believe that today, even on the issue of political prisoners, the political forces, including us, are not doing enough. But I think that we will make up for this omission in the near future. In other words, all national and conscious political forces must unite and take concrete action. Otherwise, all this lawlessness will only intensify in the future. We need to move in precisely this direction. There are certain programs and ideas. I hope they will be implemented,” the deputy concluded.

It should be recalled that on August 25, employees of the National Security Council searched the apartment of opposition faction “Armenia” member of parliament Levon Kocharyan, the son of second President Robert Kocharyan, as well as companies affiliated with the Kocharyan family.  Robert Kocharyan and Sedrak Kocharyan were then detained and taken to the Anti-Corruption Committee for questioning. On the same day, Robert Kocharyan was charged with particularly large-scale money laundering, abuse of official position and receiving a large bribe. Charges were brought against nine more individuals as part of the case. On August 27, Kocharyan was remanded in custody for two months by a decision of the Anti-Corruption Court. Strong Armenia bloc leader Samvel Karapetyan was arrested in June 2025 after making statements in defense of the Armenian Church. In December last year, the preventive measure against Karapetyan was changed to house arrest and has since been extended several times. Prosperous Armenia party leader Gagik Tsarukyan was detained on July 6 and taken to the Investigative Committee of Armenia. He is accused of organizing particularly large-scale fraud and the legalization (laundering) of funds. In addition, Gagik Tsarukyan was charged with another offense — illegal hunting. On July 7, the court granted the prosecution’s motion to remand Tsarukyan in custody for two months.  As part of the case, law enforcement agencies searched more than 70 addresses linked to Tsarukyan on July 6. The doors of all the businesses were sealed afterward. Some of them were nationalized by the state.