Lawyer Eduard Hovhannisyan has described the search of Strong Armenia’s central headquarters as unlawful, alleging that officers exceeded the powers granted to them by court orders.
The search involved officers from the Investigative Committee’s Main Department for the Investigation of Economic Crimes and Smuggling, as well as representatives of the State Revenue Committee.
Hovhannisyan, who represents the party, said restrictions on disclosing information from the preliminary investigation prevented him from providing further details. However, he maintained that the search did not correspond to the judicial authorizations presented by law enforcement officers.
“I can state unequivocally that the court orders presented by law enforcement authorities and the search conducted on the premises were in clear contradiction with one another and were unlawful,” he said.
According to the lawyer, the circumstances specified in the court orders had no connection to the operation carried out at the party’s headquarters.
“Law enforcement officers exceeded the authority granted to them and conducted a search at the Strong Armenia party’s office, which had no connection to the court orders presented,” Hovhannisyan said.
He described the operation as an attempt to exert political pressure on the party and said all necessary legal measures would be taken to challenge the officers’ actions.
Early on November 4, Investigative Committee officers searched the residences of Strong Armenia leader Samvel Karapetyan and parliamentary faction leader Narek Karapetyan.
The Investigative Committee subsequently announced that searches were being conducted simultaneously at 65 addresses as part of a criminal investigation handled by its economic crimes and smuggling department.
The search at Samvel Karapetyan’s residence lasted approximately seven hours, after which National Security Service officers took him to the Investigative Committee. A court subsequently ordered his detention for one month.
