Syunik ex-governor sues MP over slander 

ArmInfo.Former Syunik Governor and former MP from the opposition Hayastan (Armenia) National Assembly faction, Vahe Hakobyan, has filed a lawsuit against Armen Khachatryan, a member of parliament from the ruling Civil Contract faction. This was reported on the judicial information portal  Datalex.

The basis for the lawsuit was Khachatryan's February 18 Facebook  post, to which he attached a report by OTV about the Prosecutor  General's Office, which demanded the confiscation of some of the  property of Vahe Hakobyan and persons associated with him (his wife,  Elizaveta Petrosyan; Vahe Hakobyan's brother, Karen Hakobyan; Karen  Hakobyan's wife; and Vahe Hakobyan's daughters and parents - ed.).  Not long ago, Vahe Hakobyan was the governor of Syunik, and after  2018, he was an MP from the Armenia bloc, a radical opposition  figure. Taking advantage of the situation in the country after the  2020 war, he attempted to turn Syunik into a hotbed of struggle  against the state and divide the country. Currently, the Prosecutor  General's Office of the Republic of Armenia has opened a case to  seize 12 real estate and movable property, $20,778,000, and V.  Hakobyan's assets. This is why Vahe Hakobyan became a radical  opposition figure and unleashed a fierce struggle against the state.  He knew he had to return what had been stolen from the country and  the people; he knew that the state was creating mechanisms through  which everything stolen would one day be returned. "Today,  representatives of local and visiting oligarchies are uniting to hold  on to what they have stolen. They will spend vast sums of money to  wage a final battle against Armenian statehood, cherishing the last  hope of misleading or deceiving the Armenian people," Khachatryan  wrote at the time.

Hakobyan considered this publication defamatory and is asking the  court to compel Armen Khachatryan to publicly refute the following  factual information presented about him within five working days of  the court's decision taking effect:

"After the 2020 war, taking advantage of the situation in the  country, he attempted to turn Syunik into a hotbed of struggle  against the state and divide the country (...). This is precisely why  Vahe Hakobyan became a radical oppositionist and waged a fierce  struggle against the state. He knew he had to return what had been  stolen from the country and the people; he knew that the state  creates mechanisms through which everything stolen would one day be  returned. Today, in the name of preserving what was stolen,  representatives of local and visiting oligarchies are uniting,  attempting to spend large sums of money on the final battle against  Armenian statehood, cherishing the last hope of misleading or  deceiving the Armenian people."

After the claim is satisfied, Hakobyan demands that the State Duma  deputy publish a text on his Facebook page entitled "Refutation of  Vahe Albertovich Hakobyan," which must be kept for at least a year  and contain no other texts besides the refutation. Vahe Hakobyan also  demands 1 million drams from Armen Khachatryan in compensation for  defamation.

As noted in the Prosecutor General's Office's petition to the  Anti-Corruption Court, the following are subject to confiscation in  favor of the Republic of Armenia: 9 real estate properties; 3  vehicles; 1 business share; 4 loan claims totaling 122 million 614  thousand drams; 2 bonds totaling $741 thousand; 2 deposits totaling  $240 thousand; 4 billion 524 million 816 thousand drams as the  remainder of illegal funds; 2 billion 814 million 926 thousand drams  that are not confirmed by the person's legal income, are of illegal  origin, were transferred by a bona fide purchaser, or are impossible  to identify and seize.

On November 6, 2025, it was announced that Vahe Hakobyan, the former  governor of Syunik and former member of parliament from the Armenia  bloc and former head of the Revival Armenia party, had been placed on  the wanted list. "As part of the criminal case initiated under  Article 277, Part 2, Clause 3 (abuse of office or the resulting  influence in the private sector, which caused property damage on an  especially large scale) and Article 296, Clause 3 (money laundering  on an especially large scale) of the Criminal Code, the accused, Vahe  Hakobyan, was placed on the wanted list on October 31, 2025," the  Prosecutor General's Office said in a statement.

Hakobyan's name had previously been discussed in connection with a  corruption case. In addition, Hakobyan's brother and former deputy  general director of the Zangezur Copper and Molybdenum Combine (ZCMC)  Narek Ambaryan, has the status of a defendant in criminal proceedings  related to ZCMC.