Aparan City Hall employees detained after searches in connection with a bribery case

Security forces conducted searches at the Aparan City Hall and detained nine people, including city administration employees, in connection with a bribery case. Mayor Karen Yeghiazaryan is in opposition to the ruling Civil Contract party.

Investigative actions at the Aparan City Hall (Aragatsotn Province, Armenia) became known on the afternoon of October 29.

Later, the Anti-Corruption Committee reported that the searches were conducted in connection with a criminal investigation into bribery. According to the agency, a total of nine people have been detained in connection with the case, three of whom work in the Aparan municipal administration, Arminfo reports.

The investigative body did not disclose the names and positions of those detained, and details of the criminal case have not been made public.

Aparan Mayor Karen Yeghiazaryan is an opposition figure. In the 2021 municipal elections, the bloc bearing his name defeated the ruling Civil Contract party by a significant margin: the Karen Yeghiazaryan bloc received 7,425 votes, while the Civil Contract bloc received 3,694, Armenia Today reports.

In the summer of 2022, Yeghiazaryan's relative, Tigran Harutyunyan, was killed in a shootout in the village of Nigavan. The shooting in Nigavan, which left two dead and five wounded, occurred between supporters and opponents of Nikol Pashinyan, according to opposition MPs. Protests followed the incident in Aparan and Yerevan. The father of the murdered Harutyunyan stated that the conflict occurred at a gas station owned by the deputy governor, and that relatives of high-ranking officials were present at the scene.

Over the past ten days, two opposition municipal leaders have been arrested in Armenia. Investigators suspected Gyumri Mayor Vardan Ghukasyan and the city's chief architect of accepting bribes. On October 20, Ghukasyan and seven others were detained after searches of the mayor's office. On October 27, Ghukasyan, who had been remanded in custody for two months, was charged with publicly calling for the renunciation of Armenia's sovereignty.

On October 28, police arrested Masis Mayor David Hambardzumyan at the Yerevan airport. He had been sentenced to prison several days earlier for organizing mass riots.