Samvel Karapetyan Denied Permission to Send Video Message, Lawyer Responds to Pashinyan's Statement

The statements made by Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan regarding Samvel Karapetyan, the president of the Strong Armenia party, do not correspond with the positions of the court, the investigator, or the probation service. This was stated by Karapetyan's lawyer, Aram Vardevanyan, in an interview with Sputnik Armenia, responding to Pashinyan's remarks following a session of the Armenian government.

During the press briefing, Pashinyan announced that Samvel Karapetyan could appear live on air and use the opportunities available to him without any obstacles. However, lawyer Vardevanyan wrote to the court requesting direct confirmation regarding the permissibility of Karapetyan's video messages or a Facebook live appearance. The court's position has made it clear that all officials claiming there are no restrictions on Karapetyan posting videos are lying.

“So far, the probation service has not provided me with a written response containing the statements made by the head of the executive branch. I would genuinely be surprised if the probation service could present such a position at all. There is still an existing decision valid until June 18, 2025, concerning Samvel Karapetyan, which has been maintained to this day. According to that decision, there is a communication restriction, except for with close relatives and his lawyers,” emphasized the lawyer, adding that Karapetyan has not even been able to meet with his nephew to date.

He pointed out that he raised this issue during the court session on March 13 of this year, yet neither the investigator nor the court recorded their agreement or permission regarding the publication of the video message, leaving the authority to grant permission to the investigator.

This judicial act was received by Vardevanyan on March 17, and he presented a request to the investigator on March 18 seeking permission for Samvel Karapetyan to deliver a video message. No response has been received yet.

“God forbid, if this unlawful political persecution, which has already lasted around 10 months, is not desired to cease, and they do not want to ensure equal competition in political processes, at least let them lift the preventive measure, in which case all restrictions would be lifted. By the way, the judicial act also states that if, for instance, we do not secure the investigator's agreement and permission regarding the publication of the video message, it will serve as grounds for changing house arrest as a preventive measure and selecting stricter preventive measures,” the lawyer shared, adding that he is confident this whole process is intended for that purpose. In other words, if the legal team believed Pashinyan's words, and Karapetyan published a video message, it would lead to a request to again choose detention as a preventive measure against him.