Armenia arrests supporter of jailed tycoon Karapetyan Amid unrest in Gyumri

A member of the Armenian In Our Own Way movement, led by the arrested oligarch Samvel Karapetyan, lawyer Ruben Mkhitaryan, has been charged under two articles in connection with the unrest in Gyumri, as announced by the movement’s press service.

Mkhitaryan has been placed under arrest for two months, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

The lawyer was detained on October 20 in Gyumri, where he was present at the protest site. The Chamber of Advocates has already condemned his detention, calling it unlawful.

Mkhitaryan has been charged with participating in mass riots and obstructing justice.

In addition, the grandnephew of the arrested mayor of Gyumri, Vardan Ghukasyan, has also been taken into custody. The city council member, Gevorg Ghukasyan, was arrested for two months.

Earlier reports stated that 33 people were detained in connection with the “mass riots” following clashes near the Gyumri City Hall.

On the morning of October 20, law enforcement officers conducted searches in the Gyumri mayor’s office. It was later revealed that Mayor Ghukasyan and seven others had been detained on charges of bribery. Meanwhile, supporters of the mayor surrounded the building in protest. “Red Berets” units were deployed to the scene, and during the hours-long standoff between the police and the crowd, verbal altercations and scuffles repeatedly broke out. Eventually, the mayor was escorted out through a service entrance and taken away, and on October 21, he was formally arrested for two months.

Samvel Karapetyan, a prominent Russian-Armenian billionaire, philanthropist, and founder of the Tashir Group conglomerate, was arrested on June 18, 2025, in Yerevan, Armenia, amid escalating tensions between the Armenian government and the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). The detention, which has been repeatedly extended, stems from charges of publicly calling for the seizure of power, with subsequent additions of economic crimes, including money laundering and tax evasion.

Karapetyan has become a symbol of opposition to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's administration, which accuses him of political meddling and ties to pro-Russian networks. His legal team and supporters, including church leaders and international figures, denounce the arrest as politically motivated persecution, aimed at silencing critics of Pashinyan's pro-Western pivot and consolidating control over key economic assets like Tashir's Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA), which supplies power to most of the country. As of October 23, 2025, Karapetyan remains in custody at Yerevan's Kentron Penitentiary, with his detention extended to November 17, and has announced plans for a new political movement called "In Our Way" (Mer Dzevov) to challenge the regime.

By Khagan Isayev