By Naira Bulghadarian and Satenik Kaghzvantsyan
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was accused of intensifying a crackdown on his key election challengers on Friday, May 22, as law-enforcement authorities searched the homes and offices of two prominent opposition figures allied to Prosperous Armenia Party (BHK) leader Gagik Tsarukyan.
One of the oppositionists, Martun Grigoryan, was targeted the day after welcoming Tsarukyan in his hometown of Gyumri and organizing a BHK campaign rally there. The other, Andranik Tevanyan, is facing a high treason charge which Pashinyan personally announced on the campaign trail on Wednesday. Armenia’s Investigative Committee claimed the following night that Tevanyan was recruited by a foreign, presumably Russian, intelligence service two years ago.
According to it, he was paid $622,000 to supply state secrets, including confidential details of a closed-door hearing held in the Armenian parliament in April 2024. Tevanyan had resigned from the parliament in August 2023. The committee did not explain how he could have gained access to such information.
The outspoken oppositionist, who is running in the June 7 elections on the BHK ticket and is known for his pro-Russian views, vehemently denied the espionage claims before masked officers of the National Security Service (NSS) raided his office in downtown Yerevan early in the morning. They also broke into his nearby empty apartment to search for it. Earlier this week, the Armenian police arrested two individuals on suspicion of trying to burglarize the apartment.
“This is nonsense,” Tevanyan told reporters. “Nikol Pashinyan, I have presented what kind of treason you yourself have engaged in, and I will not forgive you for what you are doing.”
