Attorney Vardan Aloyan, representing Narek Karapetyan, a member of the council of the Strong Armenia party, has demanded that Armenia’s Investigative Committee of Armenia retract what he described as defamatory information distributed by the agency. He published the request on his Facebook page.

“In your publication of May 20, 2026, you presented as fact that Narek Karapetyan allegedly ‘concealed information about possessing foreign citizenship, which obstructed obtaining the status of a public official,’ and that he ‘intentionally concealed information about possessing or having possessed foreign citizenship, namely by submitting to the Migration and Citizenship Service of the Ministry of Internal Affairs a false application stating that he was not a citizen of another state, thereby concealing information about foreign citizenship that obstructed obtaining the status of a public official.’

This constitutes defamation. In the event of initiating proceedings based on received information, the Investigative Committee does not have the right to present information subject to examination as an established fact, misleading the public and clearly insulting a person’s honor, dignity and business reputation.

This flawed practice is even more unacceptable during an election campaign period, when a political force and its lead parliamentary candidate are being specifically targeted, especially on the basis of clearly false information.

According to Part 2 of Article 10 of the Law of the Republic of Armenia ‘On the Investigative Committee,’ a person holding an autonomous position in the Investigative Committee may not be a member of any political party or engage in political activity. In all circumstances, such officials are obliged to demonstrate political restraint and neutrality,” the appeal states.

The lawyer said that if a retraction is not immediately published in all places where the committee disseminated the allegedly defamatory information, a lawsuit will be filed in court to protect his client’s rights.

Claims that Narek Karapetyan held Russian citizenship were earlier circulated by National Assembly Speaker Alen Simonyan, who posted a screenshot asking: “Is Narek Karapetyan a Russian citizen?” The attached document contained data on a legal entity in which “Russian citizen” was listed next to Karapetyan’s name.

Shortly afterward, Narek Karapetyan rejected the allegation, saying: “Alen Robertovich, don’t do things like that. I am not a Russian citizen. Apart from Armenian citizenship, I have never had another citizenship. I have lived in Russia less than in England or Switzerland.”