The court arrested the opposition candidate for mayor of Stepanavan.

The candidate for the head of the Stepanavan community from "Strong Armenia" Arsen Gevorgyan was arrested four days before the municipal elections. The party accused the Armenian authorities of abusing power mechanisms.

As reported by "Caucasian Knot", on the morning of October 21, searches were conducted in the homes of supporters of the "Strong Armenia" party in Stepanavan, and the Anti-Corruption Committee announced the detention of 14 people. The party stated that among the detainees was mayoral candidate Arsen Gevorgyan. Opposition members called the actions of the security forces political persecution.

The elections for the council of elders of the Stepanavan community are scheduled for October 25. The campaign is accompanied by complaints about the use of administrative resources: on October 17, it became known that the public alliance "Independent Observer" appealed to the electoral commissions due to publications on the official page of the Lori region administration. According to observers, Governor Aren Mkrtchyan used it to promote the candidate of the ruling party "Civil Contract" Araik Nersisyan.

On the afternoon of October 21, the investigation submitted a petition to the court for the arrest of the mayoral candidate of Stepanavan from "Strong Armenia" Arsen Gevorgyan. According to the investigation's version, before the elections to the local council of elders, he bribed several dozen residents of the community.

In the evening, the Anti-Corruption Court granted this petition, and Gevorgyan was placed in custody for two months, reported Armenia Today, citing a party representative.

Tigran Abramyan, the secretary of the "Strong Armenia" faction in parliament, reported that two more detained supporters of the party in Stepanavan were placed under house arrest, and for one of the women, in addition to house arrest, bail was also applied.

Near the Anti-Corruption Court, Abramyan told reporters that the ruling party realizes it is losing its positions in the region, which is why it resorted to detaining opposition members even before the municipal elections. According to him, the outcome of these elections promised to be "undesirable" for the "Civil Contract".

Party representative Arthur Mikaelyan called the bribery charges against Gevorgyan and other associates absurd. "As for the reaction of the residents of Stepanavan, I am sure they will respond to everything that is happening," Mikaelyan's comment is quoted by Aysor.am.

Political scientist Suren Surenyan stated after the detentions in Stepanavan that Arsen Gevorgyan's victory in the elections "was predictable." "It was in this community that the opposition could not only pose a real challenge to the authorities – they even predicted the victory of the candidate from the "Strong Armenia" party," he wrote on his Facebook page.

"Strong Armenia" issued a statement calling the detentions of its supporters political persecution ahead of the October 25 elections. "This is a dangerous pattern of abusing the law and state institutions to retain power at any cost, when accusations are made before the facts are established," the party's statement is quoted by Panorama.am.

The "Strong Armenia" party was created in January of this year based on the "Our Way" movement. Its leader, entrepreneur Samvel Karapetyan, became one of the main opponents of Pashinyan. In the parliamentary elections, the eponymous bloc also united the parties "Country for Life", "New Era", and "United Armenians". Karapetyan was arrested on June 18, 2025, on charges of publicly calling for a power grab after speaking in defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid its conflict with Pashinyan. Later, he was charged with money laundering, which the defense deemed unfounded. On December 30, 2025, the entrepreneur was placed under house arrest. In September, the court extended this measure for another two months.