Detained Russian–Armenian billionaire Karapetyan files defamation charges against ruling party MPs
Armenian–Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, currently detained on charges of calling for the overthrow of the government, has pressed defamation charges against two Civil Contract MPs, demanding ֏9 million ($24,000) from each.
Karapetyan was detained in mid-June after making statements in support of the Armenian Church amidst ongoing tensions between it and the government.
The two MPs accused of insulting Karapetyan are Arsen Torosyan and Hayk Konjoryan.
According to Civilnet, in addition to the ֏9 million in damages, Karapetyan’s defence team demanded that Torosyan publicly apologise for accusing the tycoon of having received instructions from the Russia’s Federal Security Service to act against the Armenian government on 17 June. They demanded that Torosyan post the apology on his Facebook page or in any newspaper with a circulation of at least 5,000 copies in Armenia.
Torosyan mocked the charges with a post on Facebook, calling them a ‘great honour’.
‘What a great honor. They know they have money, they can hire dozens of lawyers and sue everyone left and right and solve some issues with it, like silencing us? Seriously?’ wrote the ruling party MP on Facebook.
Konjoryan is being sued for singling out Karapetyan in his criticism of the church in parliament on 17 and 18 June.
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and Civil Contract have for months been embroiled in a conflict, regularly trading jabs at each other in media and social media. Pashinyan and supporters of the ruling party have notably accused Catholicos Karekin II and other high-ranking clergy of having broken their vows of celibacy.
Kojoryan had called Karekin II — referring to him by his birthname, Ktrich Nersisyan — a ‘warhead under which all criminals have gathered’.
‘Oligarchs, former looters, outcasts, blasphemers, election scoundrels, and founding election scoundrels, all have gathered under this warhead as a warhead and with that warhead they want to fire at the state. And yesterday, the owner of the Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), Samvel Karapetyan, also smoothly appeared under that warhead’, he had said in parliament following the arrest of Karapetyan.
Karapetyan’s Tashir group owns ENA, Armenia’s electricity distribution company. Civil Contract on Tuesday passed amendments that would allow it to nationalise the company.
Karapetyan demands that Kojoryan similarly publish his apology on social media or printed press.
Karapetyan’s arrest in mid-June was followed by a series of raids and investigations at his enterprises.
On Friday, RFE/RL reported that the authorities detained four Tashir Group employees on charges of large-scale money laundering. While the Investigative Committee has not made public the names of those detained, media reports suggest that one of those arrested is the director of a Tashir subsidiary company, while the other is a real estate agent.
Yousef Bardouka
