Most of respondents view Armenian-Russian businessman Samvel  Karapetyan as political prisoner - poll 

ArmInfo. The majority of respondents in Armenia consider the Russian businessman of Armenian origin Samvel Karapetyan, who was previously arrested in Armenia, a political prisoner. This is evidenced by the results of the survey conducted by the consulting company MPG "TriPP vs TTpac!".

When asked whether there are political prisoners in Armenia today and  who they consider to be such, 71.5% of respondents indicated  businessman Samvel Karapetyan, another 38.5% considered the leader of  the "Sacred Struggle" movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, 37.8%  named the head of the Shirak Diocese, Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan,  9.6% - deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia Armen  Ashotyan, 4.1% - member of the "Sasna Tsrer" movement Varuzhan  Avetisyan, 3.3% - opposition MP from the "Armenia" faction Artur  Sargsyan. Another 13% gave a different answer.

The survey was conducted via telephone calls to residents of the  Republic of Armenia from August 25 to 30 this year, the sample size  was 1,101 people, the sampling error is +/- 3%.

In 2011, MPG became the official representative in Armenia of the  Gallup International Association - one of the most prestigious and  independent public opinion research organizations in the world. Since  2003, MPG, working in the market of sociological and marketing  research, has implemented more than 800 projects of various scales.

Recall that on June 17, 2025, Samvel Karapetyan gave an interview to  one of the media outlets, in which he expressed his concern about the  harsh campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church. In particular,  in an interview lasting just over one minute, answering the question  of what is his opinion regarding the campaign against the Armenian  Church, the famous businessman answered: "What opinion should I have  if a small group, forgetting the history of Armenia, the  thousand-year history of the Armenian Church, attacked the Church,  the Armenian people? Since I have always been close to the Armenian  Church and the people, I will take direct part: If the politicians  fail, then we will take part in all this in our own way."

Immediately after the publication of this interview with Karapetyan,  Pashinyan made several posts on the social network. One of them, in  particular, said: "He says we will intervene in our own way. Now I  will intervene in my own way, bastard."

As a result, Samvel Karapetyan was detained on the night of June 18  in Yerevan by law enforcement agencies of Armenia. On the night of  June 19, the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction arrested  Karapetyan for a period of two months. He is being held in the  Yerevan-Kentron penitentiary (the famous "KGB basement" in the  building of the National Security Service of Armenia). He is accused  of publicly calling for the seizure of power in the country.

Karapetyan does not admit guilt. Karapetyan does not admit guilt. In  addition, in July, the head of the Tashir Group of Companies was  charged with new money laundering.

On August 15, the Anti-Corruption Court, early in the morning, after  almost 10 hours of considering the investigator's petition, extended  Karapetyan's arrest.