"Strong Armenia" accused the Armenian authorities of attempting to discredit their party ahead of the elections in Stepanavan.

ArmInfo. Businessman Samvel Karapetyan's Strong Armenia party accused the Armenian authorities of attempting to discredit the political party ahead of the local government elections in Stepanavan, Lori Province, scheduled for October 25.

Strong Armenia stated that the arrest of their candidate for head of the Stepanavan community, Arsen Gevorgyan, several days before the local government elections, scheduled for October 25, is yet another instance of anti-democratic interference, highlighting the Civil Contract party's fears. The party expressed its conviction that such actions once again violate the requirements of the Constitutional Court's decision of July 4, 2026, related to the parliamentary elections.

"According to this decision, actions and statements by government officials that fail to respect the presumption of innocence are unacceptable, especially during and before elections.

They undermine the constitutional guarantees of free and fair elections, and the manner in which they are covered in the media and social media influences the will of voters." We have repeatedly stated this position, but now it has become a demand.

The Constitutional Court, which was grossly violated," the political party said in a statement received by ArmInfo.

The political party added that the statement issued by Arsen Gevorgyan's legal team on the morning of October 23 presented grounds for dismissing the so-called criminal case.

Furthermore, Strong Armenia called the law enforcement agency's investigative operation at the party's central office in the Stepanavan community, where numerous strategic and tactical issues of the election campaign were discussed, extremely alarming and undemocratic.

"Such an investigative operation should have been carried out with a very high degree of necessity, which is absent in this case." "We would like to remind you that there have been cases where secret law enforcement video footage or its contents appeared on pro-government news sites before appearing on the website or social media page of the relevant investigative agency. This suggests that the results of the aforementioned investigative operation were accessible to representatives of the ruling party before their publication on October 21, 2026, thereby undermining the entire essence of the election campaign," the party emphasized.

In this regard, the political party stated that any interference in the elections, including the abuse of administrative resources, selective prosecution, double standards, patronage, denigration of the presumption of innocence, as well as cases of voter bribery, if confirmed in accordance with established procedure, are unacceptable. "It is obvious that the disproportionate repressive actions of law enforcement officers are aimed at gaining an advantage in the council elections, which will take place on Sunday, by denigrating the name of the Strong Armenia party. However, we are more than confident that the Stepanavan resident will demonstrate with his vote that all attempts to deceive him with such video recordings are doomed to failure. Dear residents of Stepanavan, vote for change on October 25! Don't let your votes be stolen!", Strong Armenia concluded.

As a reminder, on October 21, the Anti-Corruption Committee of Armenia reported that 14 people had been detained on charges of giving election bribes, aiding and abetting them, and accepting bribes. According to the agency, "the bribes were distributed by the candidate heading the Strong Armenia party list." "Gevorgyan was detained in the regular elections for the Council of Elders of the enlarged Stepanavan community." The Anti-Corruption Committee opened a criminal investigation in this regard. Strong Armenia called the detentions of its supporters in Stepanavan political persecution and accused the authorities of abusing law enforcement mechanisms ahead of the local elections. The party also responded to a video released by the Anti-Corruption Committee several hours after Gevorgyan's detention, claiming it was politically motivated and intended to mislead the public.

It should be added that the day before, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan offered to write to him personally to those citizens and candidates for community heads in the local government elections who were under pressure from the ruling party, Civil Contract. However, by the evening of that same day, he himself began threatening representatives of the opposition. It is noteworthy that all this is happening before the local government elections in Stepanavan, which will take place on October 25.