Samvel Karapetyan’s lawyers issued a statement.
On August 15, 2025, the Anti-Corruption Court extended the pretrial detention of national philanthropist and businessman Samvel Karapetyan for another two months. As a reminder, the court found that even reasonable suspicion regarding the economic activities he is accused of had not been overcome. However, it “surprisingly” found the portion of the charge concerning Karapetyan’s interview in defense of the Mother See to be upheld.
The Court of Appeal adopted a similar position, dismissing both our appeals and the prosecutor’s office’s appeals. The defense, as well as the prosecutor’s office, filed cassation appeals. The prosecutor’s filing of the cassation appeal is noteworthy in that the aforementioned powers are intended to be used in exceptional cases. It appears that the prosecutor’s office is not satisfied with Samvel Karapetyan’s nearly 110 days in custody; it also needs to prove a reasonable suspicion of an absurd economic charge.
It should also be noted that the investigative body, comprised of over 50 investigators, has not taken any action involving Samvel Karapetyan since August 15, 2025, rejecting our motions to conduct procedural actions. By continuing to pursue the economic charges, and by simply ignoring binding court decisions, the investigative body recently set a new bar for continuous lawlessness: it brought yet another economic charge without any relevant evidence, without even the slightest legal or legitimate basis.
These actions defy legal logic. Samvel Karapetyan’s public promise of retribution on social media and his instructions to law enforcement agencies on June 17 have become an indisputable fact of his political persecution.
It is certainly worth noting that even before the defense had any information about the motion to extend his pretrial detention, a government media outlet, “citing its sources,” had already published such information.
Additional information about the court hearing date will be provided as it becomes available.