Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals has reversed a previous court decision granting Samvel Karapetyan house arrest and bail, requiring him to return to prison after seventeen days under house arrest. He now faces two months’ detention.

Karapetyan, owner of the Tashir Group, was arrested in June of 2025 after he gave an interview in which he denounced those politicians who have recently called for a new leader of the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Karapetyan said the following in the interview:

“A small group, forgetting the history of Armenia, the history of the Armenian Church for thousands of years, attacked the Armenian Church, the Armenian people... Since I have always been on the side of the Armenian Church and the Armenian people, I will have a direct participation. If politicians fail, then we will also participate in all this in our own way."

The Tashir Group includes more than two hundred companies representing various business sectors: real estate development, finance, industry, construction, energy, trade, restaurant business and the entertainment industry.

Karapetyan has announced plans to form a political team to lead a movement designed to oust Nikol Pashinyan as Armenia’s prime minister.

Karapetyan was previously charged with tax evasion, money laundering, and inciting actions against state authority. On October 13, he faced an amended charge: large-scale money laundering using official powers or influence.