Businessman Samvel Karapetyan detained in Yerevan

Officers of Armenia's National Security Service have detained Russian-Armenian businessman Samvel Karapetyan, founder of the Tashir group. His home was searched.

Investigators accuse Karapetyan of public calls to seize power. The reason was his remarks in defence of the Armenian Apostolic Church amid a public conflict between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and the church leadership.

The businessman's lawyers call the prosecution politically motivated. Karapetyan's supporters gathered outside his home in Yerevan.

Karapetyan's companies own, among other things, the Electric Networks of Armenia. Pashinyan said the time had come to nationalise the company.