Strong Armenia candidates face arrest in election corruption probe

Armenian authorities have placed two parliamentary candidates from the Strong Armenia bloc on the wanted list as part of a criminal investigation into alleged vote-buying and large-scale money laundering.

A court has ordered the arrest of Arthur Abrahamyan, a candidate from the bloc, and declared him wanted. A similar measure has been imposed on fellow candidate Hayk Avagyan, who has also been placed on the wanted list, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.

Earlier, Armenia’s Investigative Committee announced that public criminal proceedings had been initiated against six parliamentary candidates representing the “Strong Armenia” bloc as part of an investigation into the alleged material inducement of numerous individuals during the election campaign and the laundering of particularly large sums of money.

The candidates face charges under Part 2 of Article 46-236 and Paragraph 3 of Part 3 of Article 296 of Armenia’s Criminal Code. Detention orders have been issued, and their execution has been assigned to the police under the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

Investigators said that two of the candidates have already been located. Pre-trial detention has been imposed on both as a preventive measure while the investigation continues.

By Vafa Guliyeva