YEREVAN — Armenia’s Investigative Committee has accused Narek Karapetyan, the lead candidate of the “Strong Armenia” alliance, of concealing information about having or previously having foreign citizenship. Karapetyan denied the allegation, stating on Facebook that he has never held citizenship of any country other than Armenia.
“Narek Karapetyan does not have another citizenship. Narek is only a citizen of Armenia. Pashinyan is distracting the people from his madness,” Karapetyan wrote.
The Investigative Committee said criminal proceedings were launched based on a report received from the Ministry of Internal Affairs Police. According to the committee, Karapetyan allegedly submitted a false application to the Migration and Citizenship Service stating that he was not a citizen of another country, thereby concealing information that could prevent him from acquiring the status of a public official.
The case was initiated under Article 449, Part 1 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, which concerns concealing information that prevents a person from acquiring or maintaining the status of a public official.
The report does not specify whether Karapetyan currently has, or previously had, citizenship of another country. CivilNet attempted to obtain further details from the Investigative Committee, but the agency said a preliminary investigation is underway and declined further comment.
The Central Electoral Commission had earlier stated that, during candidate registration, it had reviewed documents confirming Karapetyan’s status as solely an Armenian citizen. The CEC did not report any alleged violation; otherwise, under the law, it would have rejected his candidacy.
