The confrontation between the authorities and the opposition continues to intensify during Armenia’s election campaign. At a rally in Vanadzor on May 20, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that the National Security Service had submitted a criminal report to the Investigative Committee against Prosperous Armenia candidate Andranik Tevanyan under charges of treason. Pashinyan described the opposition as a “spy network” that the authorities intend to “eradicate.”
One day later, the Investigative Committee confirmed that criminal proceedings had been initiated against Tevanyan on charges of treason and espionage.
Today, NSS officers conducted searches at Tevanyan’s apartment and at the office of the Mother Armenia party.
The Central Electoral Commission has also received a request from the Prosecutor General’s Office seeking permission to initiate criminal prosecution against parliamentary candidate Andranik Tevanyan from the Prosperous Armenia party.
What Tevanyan is accused of
According to the official statement of the Investigative Committee, Tevanyan, who entered parliament in 2021 through the Armenia Alliance electoral list, was allegedly recruited by foreign intelligence services in 2024 and engaged in espionage on their behalf.
Investigators claim that through the director of the “Russia Caucasus” geopolitical center, he transferred classified information concerning a closed parliamentary session held in April 2024, including Russian-language translations, to foreign intelligence services.
According to the investigation, he allegedly received 622,000 US dollars in return.
Based on these allegations, criminal proceedings were launched under articles related to treason and espionage.
A “political fairy tale” created for electoral purposes
Political analyst Yervand Bozoyan described the accusations against Andranik Tevanyan as implausible and politically motivated.
According to him, the authorities’ primary goal is to disrupt the election campaign of the Prosperous Armenia party.
Bozoyan stated that “there is hardly any reasonable person in Armenia” who would believe the version presented by the authorities.
He reminded that Tevanyan has not been a member of parliament since 2023, while the authorities claim he transferred information from closed parliamentary sessions held in 2024.
The analyst also noted that in Armenia it is widely known that details from closed parliamentary sessions often appear in the media the very next day.
For this reason, he described claims about secret information allegedly being sold abroad for hundreds of thousands of dollars as simply absurd.
Authorities allegedly alarmed by Prosperous Armenia’s growing ratings
According to Bozoyan, the campaign against Tevanyan is intended to weaken the electoral momentum of both Prosperous Armenia and the Mother Armenia movement.
He claimed that Prosperous Armenia’s ratings have risen sharply over the past two weeks, causing concern and panic within the ruling authorities.
The political analyst argued that the authorities had previously attempted to portray Gagik Tsarukyan as a “spy” and are now using similar methods against Andranik Tevanyan through treason-related accusations.
According to him, the authorities were alarmed by public reactions during Tevanyan’s meetings with voters, the high viewership of related YouTube content, and the active regional tours of Gagik Tsarukyan.
Bozoyan concluded that the overall growth of opposition ratings has become a serious concern for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.