New Charges Filed Against Samvel Karapetyan: Defense Team

In defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Samvel Karapetyan's announcement on June 17, 2025, was followed by: 1) public direct threats from the head of the executive branch and promises of retribution, 2) the initiation of a criminal proceeding within hours, and 3) the presentation of evidently illegal charges against Samvel Karapetyan for "calling for the seizure of power" (the same declaration defending the Mother See) and his detention within 24 hours. This was stated in a press release by Samvel Karapetyan's defense council.

“During this period, despite the lack of effective examination of the appeal in the Court of Appeal, it has become clear to any impartial observer that the charges are evidently unfounded, and the detention is illegal, as well as the nature of the criminal proceedings being politically motivated. As a result, instead of terminating the criminal proceedings and lifting the detention, the renowned businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan has recently been presented with ‘clearly unfounded new charges of money laundering as a result of the operations of several companies,’ without any material proof,” the statement reads.

“It is evident that recently in Armenia, ‘money laundering’ has become the most widespread accusation and is regularly applied exclusively within the context of political retribution. Moreover, in the current situation, it is unprecedented that there is no specific action by Samvel Karapetyan that could be somehow related to the alleged offense at all; furthermore, it turns out that charges have been presented in the absence of any fact regarding direct or indirect involvement, concealment, or distortion of the supposed means. It is noteworthy that the charge does not mention any administrative decisions or association with property in the described actions,” the statement concluded.