Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the "Strong Armenia" party, has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in the Yerevan Civil Court. The suit stems from remarks the head of government made about the businessman on May 29 during the election campaign, according to the Datalex judicial information system.

Karapetyan considers the remarks offensive and demands a public apology from Pashinyan. According to the lawsuit, the Prime Minister must go live on his official Facebook page and read a prepared text without adding any commentary.
In the statement, Pashinyan would have to acknowledge making offensive remarks about Karapetyan and apologize to him. The plaintiff specifically insists that the video contain no additional remarks from the Prime Minister or anyone else.

Furthermore, Karapetyan is seeking 3 million drams (approximately $7,800) in compensation, as well as reimbursement for legal costs, including the state filing fee and reasonable attorney's fees.

The lawsuit was filed on September 9.

The conflict arose from an earlier exchange between the two politicians. In early May, Karapetyan claimed—citing his own information—that Pashinyan had brought about a ton of hallucinogenic mushrooms from China to Armenia and consumed them before public appearances. The Prime Minister later vowed to take legal action and stated that he would feed Karapetyan those mushrooms "in a legal sense."

On May 29, Pashinyan revisited the topic during the election campaign. He said he had first heard about hallucinogenic mushrooms from "Kaluzhsky Samo"—Karapetyan's nickname—and his associates, and declared that Karapetyan should eat the mushrooms "in front of everyone." It is precisely these words that Karapetyan is now challenging in court.

This marks a reciprocal legal dispute between the politicians. Pashinyan had previously filed two lawsuits against Karapetyan himself: one—as promised—over the "hallucinogenic mushrooms" remark, and the second regarding the claim that the Prime Minister allegedly owns a house in Canada. In the latter case, Pashinyan is seeking a retraction and 6 million drams in compensation.