The Armenian Investigative Committee has opened criminal proceedings against seven members and supporters of the opposition Victory alliance, accused of interfering in the local elections in Vagharshapat in November 2025.
The seven people are investigated for directing a number of people to vote in favour of the bloc, thereby obstructing the free exercise of their individual electoral rights. If found guilty, they face up to six years in prison.
On Thursday, according to RFE/RL, six of them were placed under house arrest, while one remains at large.
‘Searches were conducted at their residential addresses and adjacent auxiliary buildings, as a result of which documents of significance for the criminal proceeding were found’, the Investigative Committee’s statement read.
Again on Wednesday, the Investigative Committee published a six-minute-long recording, which appears to contain fragments of secretly recorded phone calls involving the defendants, supposedly from the day of the Vagharshapat elections.
The recordings suggest the defendants contacted their acquaintances, directing them to vote for their bloc, even offering to take them to polling stations.
Daniel Ioannisyan, a member of the Union of Informed Citizens that carries out election observations, commented on the recordings, saying he had listened to them and ‘I realise that we still have a lot of work to do when it comes to liberating voters’.
In turn, Sevak Khachatryan, head of the Victory faction in Vagharshapat city council, did not notice any violations in the activities of his alliance members and supporters.
‘They are carrying out certain organisational activities, what kind of criminal offence is that?’, Khachatryan said.
Khachatryan further described the case as ‘political prosecution’ ahead of the June parliamentary elections, suggesting it reflects the ruling Civil Contract party’s ‘fear’ of losing a majority of votes and an attempt to ‘scare’ other opposition figures with a perspective of similar charges.
Khachatryan also questioned the authenticity of the recordings, suggesting they could be artificially generated.
The Civil Contract party won the local council elections in Vagharshapat in 2025 by receiving 48.51% of the votes, while the Victory bloc got 31.87%.
OC Media
