Armenian law enforcement summoned Samvel Shahramanian for questioning and seized a car used by him on Friday, a week after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan threatened action against Nagorno-Karabakh’s exiled leader.
Videos on social media showed masked officers from a special police unit breaking into Karabakh’s permanent representation in Yerevan, seizing the limousine driven by Shahramanian’s bodyguard without a court warrant, according to Shahramanian’s lawyer, Roman Yeritsian, who called the actions illegal and politically motivated.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee refuted these claims, stating the car was impounded as part of an ongoing criminal investigation involving the bodyguard and driver, Ashot Danielian. In February, Danielian was briefly detained on suspicion of drug trafficking and released without charge three days later. Yeritsian noted the car had previously been impounded, searched, and returned during that time.
Efforts to seize the vehicle resumed on June 7, but Shahramanian’s aides argued for four hours, asserting court permission was required. Yeritsian reported another raid on Friday, coinciding with Karabakh’s president’s scheduled visit to the Investigative Committee as a witness.
On June 14, Pashinyan accused unnamed Karabakh leaders of inciting Karabakh Armenian refugees to join anti-government protests in Yerevan, warning of severe repercussions. This followed Shahramanian’s rebuttal to Pashinyan’s claims that Karabakh forces refrained from combatting last September’s Azerbaijani offensive to prompt the region’s population to flee to Armenia and topple him.
During the brief hostilities, at least 198 soldiers and 25 civilians in Karabakh were killed, with Azerbaijan acknowledging about 200 military casualties before halting operations and allowing the entire population to relocate to Armenia after Shahramanian’s administration agreed to disband the Karabakh army.
Shahramanian, on June 13, criticized Armenian riot police for excessive force against protesters led by Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, asserting Karabakh refugees have a right to peaceful demonstrations as Armenian citizens.
Last month, Armenian authorities indicted exiled mayors of Stepanakert and two other Karabakh towns supporting Galstanian’s protest. One mayor is jailed, and the others are under house arrest, facing fraud and forgery charges they deny.
Yeritsian argued these criminal cases aim to retaliate against Karabakh Armenians joining protests demanding Pashinyan’s resignation, interpreting them as efforts to assert control.
