Armenia’s Investigative Committee claimed that Vahram Sahakian incited “hatred, intolerance and hostility” in a Facebook post in January 2025. The law-enforcement agency did not publicize the post. It based the accusation on the findings of an “expert assessment” received by it on September 1.
Sahakian, who never minced his words to attack current and former government officials or other individuals, was due to appear before a court in Yerevan late in the evening. His lawyer, Ruben Melikian, said it is not yet clear whether prosecutors will ask the court to remand him in pretrial custody. Sahakian will face between one and four years in prison if convicted.
Several other individuals highly critical of the government have also been prosecuted on the same or similar accusations over the past year. Armenian prosecutors did not deny last November reports that they are monitoring people posting angry comments about Pashinian and other state officials and have ordered criminal investigations into some of them. The total number of such criminal cases remains unknown.
In February, a young man in Yerevan was arrested for posting an offensive video about Pashinian on the TikTok platform. Around the same time, a 55-year-old woman from the northwestern town of Akhurian was prosecuted for making a disparaging statement about the prime minister and his family in a private message sent online.
Another Yerevan resident was arrested in May right after using offensive language to attack Pashinian during campaigning for the June 7 parliamentary elections. The man, Artak Avetisian, was initially charged with disseminating hate speech. The charge was later changed to one of grave “hooliganism.” A court in the Armenian capital acquitted Avetisian last week.
No Pashinian supporters have been prosecuted for offending or voicing threats against opposition politicians. Pashinian himself has regularly insulted opposition leaders and other critics. During the parliamentary election campaign, he pledged to “take out” his main political foes.
