Samvel Karapetyan, Russian billionaire and leader of the opposition party "Strong Armenia," who is currently under house arrest in Yerevan, has initiated the process of renouncing his Russian and Cypriot citizenships. The goal of this step is to qualify for the June 7 parliamentary elections, for which Armenian law requires only Armenian citizenship.
According to a ruling by Armenia's Anti-Corruption Court, the house arrest of Russian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan has been extended by one month. His lawyers have assessed this ruling as an attempt at political interference aimed at limiting Karapetyan's ability to participate in the election campaign as the leader of the Strong Armenia party.
As a reminder, Samvel Karapetyan was arrested on June 18 of last year. He was subsequently transferred to house arrest. He was then nominated as a candidate for Prime Minister of Armenia by the Strong Armenia party.
Armenian authorities have declared Karapetyan inadmissible for participation in the elections, as he holds Russian and Cypriot citizenship. The businessman, who advocates for close integration between Armenia and Russia, is accused of calling for a power grab. His defense considers the charges baseless.