By Siranush Adamyan
Armenian law enforcement authorities searched the home of opposition lawmaker Narek Karapetyan on Thursday, the latest move in a series of criminal investigations targeting figures linked to the country's largest opposition force.
Karapetyan is one of the leaders of the Strong Armenia alliance and headed the bloc's election campaign ahead of the June parliamentary election, in which it won about 23% of the vote to become the largest opposition force in the National Assembly. He is also the nephew of Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, the founder and leader of Strong Armenia.
Samvel Karapetyan has been under house arrest since June 2025 on charges of publicly calling for the overthrow of the constitutional order. He denies the allegations and says the case is politically motivated. His arrest came after he publicly defended the Armenian Apostolic Church during an escalating confrontation between the church and Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government. While under house arrest, Karapetyan entered politics, founded Strong Armenia and led it into parliament after the June election.
According to the Investigative Committee, Friday's search was conducted as part of a criminal investigation involving Alik Aleksanyan, another figure linked to Strong Armenia. Earlier this week, a court ordered Aleksanyan held in pretrial detention for two months on money laundering charges. Authorities have not disclosed how the investigation is connected to the search of Narek Karapetyan's residence.
The search ended without investigators removing any items from the house, Karapetyan told reporters. "They searched everything, but took nothing," he said, describing the operation as politically motivated.
Narek Karapetyan is himself facing criminal charges, including coercion related to public gatherings and particularly large-scale money laundering. He rejects the accusations as politically motivated.
Earlier this week, Armenia's Central Election Commission voted to allow prosecutors to initiate criminal proceedings against him but declined to authorize his detention. A court later imposed a travel ban and set bail at 1 billion drams (about $2.6 mn).
His lawyer, Aram Vardevanyan, said the defense would challenge the legality of Friday's search, arguing that investigators had failed to justify such an intrusive investigative measure.
The search marks the latest legal action involving members of Strong Armenia since the party entered parliament after the June election. Party leaders say the investigations are part of a broader campaign to weaken the opposition, while Armenian authorities maintain the cases are based solely on criminal evidence and are unrelated to politics.
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