What will be decided regarding Samvel Karapetyan's case?

In the coming days, the two-month detention period imposed by the court on national philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan will end. It symbolically coincides with his 60th birthday, which is a key moment not so much in legal as in value discourse. A perception has already been formed in the perceptions of broad layers of society that the case is viewed within the framework of political retribution. If the political changes that took place in Armenia in 2018 were presented as an opportunity to restore justice, legality, and equality, then subsequent events, including war defeat, human losses, territorial concessions, and security threats, showed that the new government system is subject to questioning in the context of legitimacy and effectiveness. Against this background, the case of Samvel Karapetyan is seen not only as an indicator of a legal but also a systemic crisis. The contradictions recorded in the legal processes, starting from the recognition of his arrest and the searches of his relatives’ apartments by the Criminal Court of Appeal as unlawful, hint at the selective application of existing mechanisms within the justice system. In such situations, the question arises: are we witnessing the manifestation of an independent judiciary or its imitation?

If the state's legal system initially applies harsh and controversial measures, then further steps of mitigation or justification are perceived as a formal demonstration of legitimacy. And if these concerns do not correspond to reality, then the authorities have one more opportunity these days to dispel them: either to show minimal common sense and morality and release the national benefactor, or to continue the path of destroying the value system and devaluing statehood, "for the sake of the Republic of Armenia"...

Tigran DumikyanPolitical analyst