Armenian Parliament Votes for Criminal Prosecution and Arrest of MP Artur Sargsyan

YEREVAN — The National Assembly of Armenia has approved the Prosecutor General’s motion to initiate criminal proceedings against Arthur Sargsyan, a Member of Parliament from the opposition “Hayastan” (Armenia) faction.

A total of 62 MPs participated in the closed-door vote, all of whom voted in favor. There were no votes against the motion. The opposition factions “Hayastan” and “I Have Honor” did not take part in the vote.

On July 7, Prosecutor General Anna Vardapetyan submitted a request to the National Assembly seeking authorization to initiate criminal prosecution against MP Arthur Sargsyan. According to the Prosecutor General, the criminal case is connected to the “Sacred Struggle” movement led by Vazgen Galstanyan. As part of this movement, Arthur Sargsyan, along with several others, allegedly planned acts of terrorism and an attempted usurpation of power.

The case materials indicate that from July 2024 to March 2025, an organized group obtained explosive devices, formed strike teams, recruited over 2,000 individuals, and prepared maps, tools, and materials intended to paralyze critical transportation and infrastructure systems. According to the investigation, Arthur Sargsyan was actively involved in this group.

The planned criminal actions, however, were thwarted due to preventive operations carried out by the National Security Service (NSS).

The day before, the parliament approved two more requests from the prosecutor general to initiate criminal proceedings against the head of the opposition Hayastan alliance Seyran Ohanyan (who is suspected of concealing a land plot and an illegal construction) and the alliance’s secretary Artsvik Minasyan (who is accused of abuse of office when he served as Minister of Nature Protection in 2016-2018).