The Anti-Corruption Court announced the decision early on Thursday following a two-day hearing on a two-month extension demanded by Armenia’s Investigative Committee.
According to one of Karapetian’s lawyers, Aram Vartevanian, the court set a shorter arrest period because it found little evidence of tax evasion, fraud or money laundering attributed to him. Vartevanian said it kept his client behind bars because of the other accusation levelled against him.
Karapetian, who denies all charges as politically motivated, was arrested on June 18 hours after condemning Pashinian’s attempts to depose the top clergy of the Armenian Apostolic Church and vowing to defend it “in our way.” Law-enforcement authorities claim that the statement constituted a call for a violent overthrow of the government. They filed the other accusations in July after the 60-year-old tycoon decided to set up a new opposition group that will run in the elections due in June.
Karapetian’s Mer Dzevov (In Our Way) movement was officially unveiled in late August. It claims to have enlisted 5,000 members since then. Analysts expect it to be a major election contender.
Scores of Karapetian’s supporters gathered outside the Yerevan court during the hearing held behind the closed doors. Senior members of In Our Way clearly did not expect his release from custody. They announced on Wednesday that they will hold this weekend another major demonstration in support of the tycoon.
While denying any political motives behind the high-profile case, Pashinian effectively admitted last month the connection between Karapetian’s rhetoric and arrest. He said the tycoon must give up his Russian citizenship before engaging in political activities in Armenia.
Karapetian’s June 17 statement in support of the church immediately provoked a series of furious social media posts by Pashinian.
“Now I will interfere with you in my own way, you scoundrel … I hope the taste of the state will remain in your mouths,” the premier wrote just hours before Karapetian was arrested.
Karapetian was born and raised in Armenia and moved to Russia in the early 1990s. He has financed many charity projects in Armenia as well as Nagorno-Karabakh and made lavish donations to the church after making a huge fortune there.
