Tevanyan accuses investigators of politically motivated actions

PanARMENIAN.Net - Mother Armenia party chairman and the No. 2 candidate on the Prosperous Armenia Party (PPA) election list, Andranik Tevanyan, has claimed that investigators were instructed to fabricate a criminal case while commenting on the detention of Mother Armenia board member Aregnaz Manukyan.

In a statement released from Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary, Tevanyan said what he described as a "total offensive" against his party was continuing.

“Dear compatriots, under an unlawful order issued by Nikol's disgraceful and immoral regime, Mother Armenia board member Aregnaz Manukyan has been detained. This means the comprehensive campaign against our party is continuing. Most likely, this is being done within the framework of the fabricated case against me. The Investigative Committee received instructions to manufacture a case, and it did so. It has now moved on to what is clearly intimidation and illegal actions that cross every red line.

“They used Nikol's methods to detain Gagik Tsarukyan. Now they have targeted former MP Aregnaz Manukyan. A few days ago, the apartment of another Mother Armenia board member, Yervand Bozoyan, was searched. Unless these unlawful actions and political repression are stopped through united efforts, tomorrow there may be no opposition politician left at liberty in Armenia. Nikol Pashinyan, who serves the Turkish-Azerbaijani agenda, has committed himself to making concessions at Armenia's expense in exchange for keeping power. That is why he is clearing the political field and imprisoning his opponents. During his recent briefing, he already hinted at future concessions while attempting to place responsibility for them on the majority of Armenian citizens who voted for him. The only way to avoid the fate of Artsakh is through nationwide resistance.

“Dear people, this is not an attack against one party or several individuals. It is an attack against Armenian statehood, our values and all of us,” the statement said.

According to Armenia's Investigative Committee, Tevanyan was recruited by a foreign intelligence service in 2024 and cooperated with the director of the Russia Caucasus geopolitical center, whom investigators identify as a representative of a foreign intelligence service. Authorities allege that, on his instructions, Tevanyan engaged in espionage and transferred information containing state secrets. The allegations are believed to concern a closed parliamentary session held in April 2024 on border delimitation, attended by Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan.

Investigators claim Tevanyan provided Russian-language information about the closed session's proceedings and outcomes in exchange for $622,000. Criminal proceedings were launched under Article 418, Part 1 of Armenia's Criminal Code on high treason and Article 424, Part 1 on espionage.

Tevanyan was elected to parliament on June 20, 2021, through the Armenia Alliance's nationwide electoral list. He resigned his parliamentary mandate on August 17, 2023.