Pashinyan Files Defamation Lawsuit Against Samvel Karapetyan, Seeks 6 Million Drams in Compensation

YEREVAN — The story involving alleged “hallucinogenic mushrooms” has reached the courts. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has filed a defamation lawsuit against Samvel Karapetyan, demanding a public retraction of statements made on May 7 and seeking 6 million drams in compensation. The Yerevan Civil Court has accepted Pashinyan’s lawsuit for proceedings.

Karapetyan had claimed during one of his press conferences that, according to his information, “Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan brought hallucinogenic mushrooms from China and uses them every time before making a speech.”

Pashinyan filed the lawsuit in response to that statement.

“Is that a serious statement from a serious person? Think before you speak, or before doing anything at all,” Pashinyan said.

The prime minister is demanding that Karapetyan publicly retract the statement with the following wording:

“During a press conference held with journalists on May 7, 2026, I, Samvel Sargsi Karapetyan, disseminated the following information about Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan: ‘Last year, when the prime minister went to China, there are restaurants there, special mushroom restaurants that cause hallucinations in people. He tried them there, liked them, and according to my information, brought approximately one ton of them back to Armenia. That is why, when he meets with journalists in the government or takes the podium in the National Assembly, he uses those mushrooms.’ I declare that this information fully defames Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan, is false, and does not correspond to reality.”

Pashinyan is also demanding that the retraction be issued through at least three news outlets with YouTube channels that have no fewer than 200,000 subscribers, in the form of a live video broadcast under the title: “Retraction Regarding Defamatory Information Published by Me About Prime Minister of the Republic of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan During the Press Conference of May 7, 2026.”

According to the lawsuit, the retraction must be read in the exact wording specified in the court ruling. Its placement, format, font size and type, and broadcast time must not be inferior to those of the original information. The retraction must not contain any additional comments or explanations from the defendant or any third party and must include only the text of the retraction.

If it is not possible to publish the retraction through the specified media outlets, Pashinyan is demanding that it be carried out under the same conditions through the “Strong Armenia” YouTube channel.