Samvel Karapetyan to Remain in Custody

The Anti-Corruption Court of Appeal has made a decision regarding Samvel Karapetyan, who will continue to remain in custody, as the court rejected the appeals of his defenders. The court also dismissed the Prosecutor General's appeal concerning the substantiation of money laundering suspicions.

Karapetyan's defense counsel has issued a statement regarding today's decision from the appellate court. "Today's decision by the appellate court was predictable and serves to confirm the view that the judicial and law enforcement system in Armenia is used as an instrument for political persecution. The decisions to detain national benefactor and well-known businessman Samvel Karapetyan on absurd charges, with equally absurd 'justifications,' seek to satisfy the whims of a small group leader and sadly deprive our country of its status as a legal and democratic state. Regardless, no injustice can discourage us. At the same time, in these conditions of legal absurdity, political persecution, and pressure, the appellate court has upheld the decision of the Anti-Corruption Court, which was appealed by the prosecutor's office and which even denied the minimum level of substantiation related to the alleged crimes of money laundering and other economic offenses. We will persistently continue our fight for justice in our own way," the statement reads.