Armenia detains Moscow-friendly ex-president in anti-corruption probe
Robert Kocharyan, Armenia's president from 1998 until 2008, leads the Armenia Alliance, one of the main Moscow-friendly political forces opposing Armenia's pro-EU Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
On August 25, Armenian law enforcement detained former President Robert Kocharyan, a pro-Russian opposition leader, as part of an anti-corruption probe, according to reports. Kocharyan, who served as president from 1998 to 2008, heads the pro-Russian Armenia Alliance, which opposes Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who is from a pro-EU political background. Authorities have been searching several addresses related to Kocharyan, his son Levon, and four others, the Anti-Corruption Committee announced.
During his presidency, Kocharyan amassed valuable properties acquired at below-market prices after being removed from state ownership on false pretenses, the Anti-Corruption Committee alleged. Kocharyan's legal representative confirmed his formal charges but dismissed the case as politically motivated.
The detention follows a tense parliamentary debate between Pashinyan and Levon Kocharyan, where the prime minister accused the ex-president's family of illegally accumulating wealth. Robert Kocharyan has consistently advocated for closer ties with Russia and criticized Armenia's 2018 Velvet Revolution, which resulted in Pashinyan's election. Pashinyan's administration has been distancing Yerevan from Russia and strengthening ties with the West and the EU, a move solidified in his June parliamentary election victory.
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