Arthur Osipyan, chairman of the Artsakh Revolutionary Party, has filed a lawsuit seeking a public retraction of information he considers defamatory and requesting that Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan be compelled to apologize. Osipyan announced this on his Facebook page.

“Because of the defamatory statements and false information spread about me by Pashinyan, then a candidate for prime minister, on May 18, I resorted to an extreme measure — a hunger strike — to defend my dignity, as I had no other option while deprived of my liberty.

However, considering that the Prosecutor’s Office has changed the preventive measure, I am continuing the struggle through another avenue. Today, I filed a lawsuit with the Court of First Instance of General Jurisdiction of the Republic of Armenia, seeking a public retraction of the factual claims I regard as defamatory and requesting that he be obliged to apologize. I should note that the criminal proceedings initiated against me are still ongoing,” he wrote.

Arthur Osipyan, who was detained following an altercation with Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, spent 23 days in Nubarashen Penitentiary and was released from custody on the evening of June 10. He had been on a hunger strike for more than 20 days, demanding that Pashinyan apologize for calling him a “runaway” and insulting him.

Osipyan was detained on May 18, 2026, after a confrontation with Nikol Pashinyan. The incident occurred during an election campaign event when Osipyan approached the prime minister and criticized him. Pashinyan responded with harsh language, saying: “... Get lost, you fool. Smash your head against a wall, you should have gone and died in place of our boys. You looting animals. Why are you still alive, talking about five thousand victims, you scumbag?”