Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the "Strong Armenia" bloc and owner of the Tashir Group, who is currently under house arrest, has filed a lawsuit against Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. He demands a public apology for offensive statements and compensation of 3 million drams (approximately $8,300).
The lawsuit information was published in Armenia's judicial information system Datalex. However, the published information does not specify which of Pashinyan's words Karapetyan considers offensive. It is only known that the statements in question were made during a public speech on May 29, 2026. It is assumed that the lawsuit may have been prompted by Pashinyan's remarks made on the same day during the election campaign. The prime minister then commented on Karapetyan's words about allegedly consumed hallucinogenic mushrooms and stated that the businessman himself consumes such mushrooms.
The businessman also demands that the apology be published on Pashinyan's official website and his Facebook page. In addition, Karapetyan's side asks to recover 3 million drams from the prime minister as compensation for insult and to reimburse legal costs, including state duty and lawyers' fees. The businessman himself has been under house arrest since January 2026. In April, Armenia's Anti-Corruption Court extended this measure for another three months.
Karapetyan was arrested in June 2025 on charges of public calls for the seizure of power. Later, he was also charged in cases of large-scale money laundering and tax evasion. The businessman does not admit guilt on the charges. The criminal prosecution began after Karapetyan's public statements in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid the conflict between the church and Pashinyan's government. The prime minister himself, after these statements, called the businessman's position a threat to Armenia.
Samvel Karapetyan is the owner of the Tashir Group of Companies. In February 2026, his supporters nominated the businessman as a candidate for prime minister of Armenia from the "Strong Armenia" bloc. At that time, he was already under house arrest.
Source: podrobno.uz