15:03, 26 May 2026

Investigators have reviewed the charges against a blogger for comments about Pashinyan.

The charge against Artak Avetisyan, who called the Armenian Prime Minister a "traitor," has been reclassified from incitement to hooliganism.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," the Investigative Committee opened a criminal case against blogger Artak Avetisyan, who called Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan a "traitor" on May 12. Security officials considered this incitement to hatred. The court remanded Avetisyan in custody.

Pashinyan's opponents have been accusing him of "treason" for several years due to his desire to resolve the Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict. On September 14, 2022, at least 40,000 people gathered outside the parliament building after Pashinyan announced his readiness to resolve the conflict with Azerbaijan. That day, opposition representatives demanded that a motion of no confidence be signed against Pashinyan.

The charges against Artak Avetisyan have been reclassified; he is now accused of hooliganism, according to lawyer Ruben Melikyan. "Hooliganism has recently become the regime's favorite offense. If problems arise under other articles, they quickly reclassify it as hooliganism," News.am quoted him as saying today.

According to the lawyer, the investigator announced the completion of the preliminary investigation today. Melikyan suggested that the first court hearing would take place one or two days after the parliamentary elections.

On May 12, police detained Artak Avetisyan in Yerevan's Shengavit district, who was chanting, "Nikol, traitor!" After Avetisyan resisted for several minutes, the officers managed to force him into a police car and handcuff him. Avetisyan continued shouting, "Nikol, traitor!" According to his lawyer, Avetisyan was charged with inciting hatred because of a video he posted on social media on May 12. In the video, the blogger, walking down the street, filmed himself and his thoughts and expressed his opinion within the limits of permitted political criticism, without resorting to hate speech and inciting hatred, Ruben Melikyan stated earlier.

Armenian resident detained for writing on ruling party poster

As a reminder, parliamentary elections in Armenia are scheduled for June 7. Seventeen parties and two blocs have been admitted. The Strong Armenia bloc of businessman Samvel Karapetyan, the Armenia bloc of former President Robert Kocharyan, and the Prosperous Armenia Party of oligarch Gagik Tsarukyan are the most pro-Russian participants in the upcoming elections. According to analysts, the parties of Karapetyan, Pashinyan, and Kocharyan will be key competitors in the elections.

The promises of the four main political forces participating in the parliamentary elections concerned reducing poverty, creating new jobs, increasing pensions, and increasing GDP. According to analysts, most of these promises are simply populism.

The "second league" parties, which have fewer supporters than the ruling party's main opponents, in their election platforms announced an end to pressure on the church, reform of the judicial system, and strengthening of the country's security, including a revision of the peace treaty with Baku. Political analysts predict that not all of these four parties will be able to enter parliament.

The June elections will effectively be a referendum on the future of Nikol Pashinyan's rule and Armenia's foreign policy course. At stake is the current team's retention of power or its transfer to the opposition, which promises to reconsider key decisions of recent years, according to the "Caucasian Knot" report "2026 Elections to the National Assembly (Parliament) of Armenia".

Translated automatically via Google translate from https://www.kavkaz-uzel.eu/articles/423569