Armenian parliament votes for criminal prosecution and arrest of MP Artur Sargsyan

YEREVAN, July 8. /ARKA/. On Tuesday, Armenian MPs endorsed two motions submitted by the Prosecutor General requesting permission to initiate criminal proceedings against Artur Sargsyan, an MP from the opposition Hayastan (Armenia) alliance, and to arrest him.

All 62 MPs who participated in the secret ballot voted in favor of these motions.

Sargsyan is accused of preparing terrorist acts and attempting to seize power in the country together with other members of the Holy Struggle movement, led by Bagrat (Vazgen) Galstanyan, between November 2024 and March 14, 2025.

According to the prosecutor general, the group was preparing mass riots, collecting materials for sabotage, and creating strike groups, but was identified and thwarted at the preparation stage by the National Security Service.

During the discussion at the National Assembly, Sargsyan rejected the charges against him, stating that “everything has already been decided, everything is clear, there is a decision to arrest him and strip him of his immunity.”

"I have been expecting something like this since May 9, 2024. The question arises: why did they decide to strip me of my immunity? It must be noted that for the authorities, everyone is a criminal, be it a judge, an MP, a philanthropist, a clergyman, a statesman, or a representative of the intelligentsia. We are not in a bastion of democracy, but in a bastion of dictatorship. Everything here is decided and approved in advance," Sargsyan said.

The day before, the parliament approved two more requests from the prosecutor general to initiate criminal proceedings against the head of the opposition Hayastan alliance Seyran Ohanyan (who is suspected of concealing a land plot and an illegal construction) and the alliance's secretary Artsvik Minasyan (who is accused of abuse of office when he served as Minister of Nature Protection in 2016-2018). -0-