A court has approved the request to place Russia-based blogger Mika Badalyan in pretrial detention after public criminal prosecution was initiated against him. The information was provided by Armenia’s Anti-Corruption Committee, Factor.am reports.

The Anti-Corruption Committee had earlier announced that factual data had been obtained regarding alleged election bribery by Badalyan. According to the committee, he allegedly promised services and other benefits to hundreds of Armenian citizens residing in Russia in exchange for participating in the National Assembly election. A criminal proceeding was subsequently launched by the Anti-Corruption Committee.

A criminal case was initiated over the incident, and investigative actions were carried out to identify citizens who allegedly received the suspected election bribes.

According to preliminary data, votes in the election were distributed as follows: Civil Contract — 49.825 percent, Strong Armenia — 23.281 percent, Armenia Alliance — 9.934 percent, Prosperous Armenia — 3.996 percent. Updated figures indicate that the Prosperous Armenia Party has not passed the electoral threshold, which stands at 4 percent for parties. The party has requested recounts in several polling stations.