The criminal case against Hovhannes Sahakyan, who was arrested at Yerevan’s Zvartnots Airport after traveling from Russia to vote in Armenia’s June 7 parliamentary elections, has been dropped, months after Pashinyan’s government accused opposition forces of paying citizens abroad to return and vote.
Sahakyan’s lawyer, Karine Margaryan, announced the decision on October 30, stating that the prosecution was terminated on the grounds that Sahakyan had not committed the alleged offense. In August, the Criminal Court of Appeal had already ruled that his arrest was unlawful, finding that authorities lacked reasonable grounds to suspect him of a crime.
Ahead of the elections, officials from Pashinyan’s ruling “Civil Contract” party accused opposition forces of organizing vote-buying schemes and warned of arrests and military call-ups for citizens returning from abroad.
On April 28, Deputy Speaker Ruben Rubinyan warned that anyone who accepted an election bribe abroad would be arrested upon arrival at Zvartnots Airport, claiming that Armenian security services were monitoring activities overseas.
On June 3, Taron Chakhoyan, then deputy chief of Pashinyan’s staff, warned that citizens allegedly paid to travel from Russia to vote for opposition leader Samvel Karapetyan would face 25-day military training exercises, with those refusing to comply risking criminal prosecution. Military police also reportedly checked arriving passengers and issued summonses.
Sahakyan, who arrived from Moscow with his family, told Shant TV that they intended to return that evening after voting, citing concerns about possible unrest.
He was subsequently arrested at Zvartnots Airport while attempting to return to Russia. However, authorities did not accuse him of accepting an election bribe. Instead, he was accused of failing to report an alleged crime and prohibited from leaving Armenia.
Following the elections, Pashinyan continued accusing political opponents of vote-buying, declaring on June 17 that those involved must be removed from Armenia’s political life “by all possible means.”
The October 30 decision ends nearly five months of proceedings against Sahakyan, whose arrest had already been declared unlawful by an appellate court. According to his lawyer, prosecutors terminated the case on the grounds that he had not committed the alleged offense, leaving the authorities’ decision to arrest, prosecute, and prevent him from returning to Russia under renewed scrutiny.
