YEREVAN — Armenian authorities have arrested Gyumri mayor Vardan Ghukasyan on corruption charges following a tense day-long standoff at city hall, where police surrounded the building and clashed with Ghukasyan’s supporters.
The Anti-Corruption Committee announced on Monday, October 20, that Ghukasyan and seven others were accused of soliciting and receiving bribes, including a payment of 4 million drams ($10,000) to legalize an illegally built structure in the city. According to investigators, Ghukasyan and the city’s chief architect allegedly demanded money from a local resident in exchange for re-classifying a 1,500-square-metre unauthorized construction as legal, promising to falsify official documents to show it had been demolished and rebuilt.
The committee said the case was uncovered through extensive surveillance and undercover operations, revealing a pattern of kickbacks and abuse of office within the municipality. Officials also claimed that members of the alleged network attempted to blackmail unfriendly members of the city council to maintain political control.
Tensions flared in Gyumri on Monday morning as law enforcement entered the city hall and blocked staff from entering or leaving. Riot police and red-bereted special forces were later deployed as crowds gathered outside to support the mayor. At least one person was detained, and several were reportedly injured in the scuffles.
By early afternoon, Ghukasyan emerged briefly from his office, telling staff: “We’ll go, we have no problem, we’ve done nothing wrong.” He was later taken into custody and transferred to Yerevan for questioning, his lawyer confirmed.
Ghukasyan’s legal team has insisted the charges are politically motivated, with his lawyer Aramayis Hayrapetyan saying that the Anti-Corruption Committee’s statement misrepresented the evidence and that none of the published wiretaps directly implicated the mayor.
