Armenian tycoon Karapetyan moves from prison to house arrest

Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, the head of the Tashir Group, has been transferred from a detention centre to his home, Caliber.Az reports via Armenian media.

On January 16, Karapetyan was moved from a hospital to the “Yerevan-Kentron” pre-trial detention facility (SIZO) following a decision by the Anti-Corruption Court. The court overturned a lower court ruling that had placed him under house arrest at the end of 2025.

The decision comes amid ongoing legal proceedings involving the prominent businessman. No further details were immediately provided by authorities.

Karapetyan has been detained since June 18, 2025, initially on charges of making public calls to seize power/overthrow the constitutional order (stemming from his televised defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid government criticism), later expanded to include money laundering, tax evasion, and economic crimes on a large scale — all of which he and his lawyers deny as politically motivated persecution tied to tensions between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's administration and the Church.

By Khagan Isayev