Armenian premier `political judge` for Armenian society - activist 

ArmInfo. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's actions are essentially trying to say that he is now the judge in political cases. This opinion was expressed by human rights activist Zhanna Alexanyan, responding to the fact that the  Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, owned by the Armenian Prime Minister's  family, published information about the extension of the arrest of  businessman and head of the Tashir Group, Samvel Karapetyan, ahead of  his trial.

"It appears that this newspaper is effectively serving as a  conference room, which is quite unusual," Aleksanyan added.

The human rights activist noted that despite the voiced discontent  over the incident, no explanation was forthcoming, only stony  silence. She noted that this situation demonstrates clear disrespect  and disdain for the court. "I won't comment on the judge's actions;  he is voluntarily submitting to threats from Pashinyan, who once  said, 'Who is the judge who won't do what I say?' I truly don't  understand why they decided to so openly humiliate and insult the  court. It seems Pashinyan is trying to say that he is the judge in  political cases," Aleksanyan concluded.

As a reminder, the Anti-Corruption Court extended Karapetyan's arrest  for another two months. Furthermore, lawyer Aram Vardevanyan noted  that the Haykakan Zhamanak newspaper, which is owned by the family of  Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, reported on the extension of  Karapetyan's arrest long before the court's decision. This  information was also posted on the Baghramyan 26 Telegram channel,  affiliated with the Armenian government, starting at 6:30 PM on  November 17.

On June 18, law enforcement officers detained Samvel Karapetyan, and  the court later remanded him in custody on charges of calling for the  overthrow of the constitutional order, solely because the latter,  speaking in defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church, stated in an  interview: "We will intervene in our own way if politicians fail to  fulfill this function." Notably, Karapetyan's arrest was preceded by  threatening posts from Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, which lawyers  consider an attempt to directly interfere with the investigation and  law enforcement. Following Karapetyan's arrest, the authorities  effectively took over the management of the ESA from the Karapetyan  family, appointing Romanos Petrosyan, a member of the Civil Contract  party, as its managing director.