STATEMENT: The Criminal Prosecution of Gagik Tsarukyan Is Based on a Political Directive from the Head of Government
Publication Date 05.07.2026
It is evident that the criminal prosecution of Gagik Tsarukyan, the searches being conducted since early this morning at his residence and in his companies, as well as his arrest shortly ago, are based on a political directive from the head of government. In particular, during the elections to the Ninth Convocation of the National Assembly, Nikol Pashinyan made threats against his political opponent Gagik Tsarukyan that could be carried out exclusively through law-enforcement bodies.
It is also evident that the authorities had the “grounds” for today’s actions ready one, four, or eight months ago, but, based on their political calculations and the expediency of the moment, have chosen to act precisely now, using law-enforcement bodies for this purpose.
The mechanism for combating crime is being used to serve the political interests of the head of government. It is noteworthy that the head of government has no such authority whatsoever. Under these circumstances, mechanisms for the protection of human rights also cease to function, so as to prevent any situation in which the political leader’s directive might be deemed to have been improperly carried out. Today’s statements concerning obstruction of lawyers’ work are a vivid example of this.
Nevertheless, the issue is not about Gagik Tsarukyan personally. The issue is much deeper: the system of checks and balances is effectively not functioning within the country’s legal system. All of this is fundamentally contrary to the requirements of democracy and the rule of law.
The Wings of Unity party strongly condemns this dangerous practice of using the law-enforcement system for political purposes and declares that such a course of action is a blow not only to a particular individual or political force, but also to the constitutional order of the Republic of Armenia, the foundations of the rule-of-law state, and the freedom of the citizen.