All Corrupt Judges Will Be Prosecuted, Pashinyan Says

YEREVAN — “Did anyone acquit Gagik Tsarukyan for free? All corrupt judges will be arrested and prosecuted,” Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said during a Cabinet meeting, issuing a sharp warning.

“The names will be published according to criminal cases, if such criminal cases exist,” the prime minister said.

Referring to alleged cases of vote-buying by opposition forces ahead of the parliamentary elections, Pashinyan said that those “caught” for electoral bribery in these elections should remain in prison until the results of the 2031 elections are finalized. Otherwise, he said, the judicial and legal system is acting against the state, and the state must respond.

“They must be held accountable. What does it mean to arrest and then acquit Gagik Tsarukyan in a vote-buying case? Does anyone want to say that someone arrested Gagik Tsarukyan and acquitted him for free? I accuse the system of being rotten. Those who are rotten can resolve any issue in the judicial system today,” Pashinyan said.

Pashinyan said he believes that without electoral bribery, the Strong Armenia alliance, the Armenia alliance and the Prosperous Armenia Party would not have passed the parliamentary threshold.

“As for the three-headed party of war, without vote-buying, none of them would have overcome the threshold to enter parliament,” Pashinyan said.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has also filed two lawsuits against businessman Samvel Karapetyan and the Strong Armenia Party, demanding retractions of allegedly defamatory statements and compensation of 6 million drams in each case.

One of the lawsuits concerns Samvel Karapetyan’s claim that Nikol Pashinyan owns a house in Canada.

The lawsuit seeks to oblige Samvel Karapetyan to publicly retract the allegedly defamatory factual statement made against Nikol Pashinyan in the following form:

“On May 25, 2026, I, Samvel Sargis Karapetyan, disseminated information claiming that Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan owns a house in Canada. I hereby state that this information is entirely defamatory toward Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, is false and does not correspond to reality.”

The lawsuit also demands that 6,000,000 Armenian drams be collected from defendant Samvel Sargis Karapetyan in favor of plaintiff Nikol Vovayi Pashinyan as compensation for non-material damage caused by defamation.

Pashinyan’s second lawsuit concerns Strong Armenia’s claim that “300,000 Azerbaijanis” would live in Armenia.

According to the lawsuit, on May 27, 2026, the Strong Armenia Party disseminated information claiming that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan had confirmed he would bring 300,000 Azerbaijanis to Armenia. The lawsuit states that this information is entirely defamatory toward Nikol Pashinyan, is false and does not correspond to reality.

If the lawsuit is upheld, the retraction must be published on Strong Armenia’s Facebook page in a manner accessible and visible to everyone. The post must remain on the page indefinitely, or for at least two years.

Nikol Pashinyan is demanding that 6 million drams be collected from the Strong Armenia Party in his favor as compensation for non-material damage caused by defamation.