Court extends Samvel Karapetyan house arrest

PanARMENIAN.Net - Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court has extended businessman Samvel Karapetyan’s house arrest for another month, his lawyer Aram Vardevanyan told reporters outside the courthouse.

The motion had been assigned to Judge Vardges Stepanyan, Factor.am reports.

On March 13, starting at 3:30 p.m., the court began examining the issue of extending the preventive measure against billionaire businessman Samvel Karapetyan. The investigative authority had applied to the court, seeking to continue the term of his house arrest.

At the same time as the motion was being examined, people supporting Karapetyan had gathered outside the court. Three of them were taken into custody on the grounds of failing to comply with a police order. Large police forces had been deployed in the area adjacent to the courthouse.

Karapetyan was arrested on June 18, 2025, and the term of his detention was later extended several times by court decisions. On December 30, the court granted a motion submitted by the defense, replacing detention with house arrest and bail.

Karapetyan has been charged with publicly calling for the seizure of power and the overthrow of the constitutional order. On October 13, the Investigative Committee said the charges against Samvel Karapetyan had been amended and supplemented under points 2 and 3 of part 3 of Article 296 of the Criminal Code as well, concerning money laundering on an especially large scale through the use of official or service powers or influence derived from them. Karapetyan does not admit the charges brought against him.