Robert Kocharyan arrested on Armenia graft charges

Armenian police arrested former president Robert Kocharyan and his eldest son Sedrak on corruption charges, authorities said Tuesday.

Kocharyan, 71, led Armenia from 1998 to 2008 and now leads Armenia Alliance, the country's second-largest opposition party by seats in parliament. Sedrak Kocharyan is a businessman.

Armenia's Anti-Corruption Committee accused the pair of involvement in “criminal schemes”. It alleged that Kocharyan used his position as president to buy state property at prices far below market value.

The committee said one case involved a defence ministry plot of land sold to an associate of Kocharyan for a quarter of the market price.

Kocharyan did not immediately respond to the allegations. A message posted on his Telegram account described the arrests as an “attack by the authorities on President Kocharyan and his family”.

The anti-corruption agency later said Kocharyan was taken to hospital after his arrest because of high blood pressure.

The arrests came a day after Kocharyan's younger son Levon, an opposition lawmaker, criticised Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in parliament over the loss of “Artsakh”, an Armenian-populated breakaway state in Azerbaijan that collapsed after an Azerbaijani offensive in 2023. Pashinyan responded by accusing Levon Kocharyan of obtaining his wealth “at the expense” of Armenia.