Armenian opposition leader charged with fraud to be held for two months

The leader of a pro-Russian Armenian opposition party was placed in pre-trial detention for two months on Tuesday after being detained on suspicion of

large-scale fraud and money laundering, the Armenpress news agency reported, citing a court ruling.



Gagik Tsarukyan, a billionaire businessman, was arrested on Monday along with an associate on suspicion of fraudulently importing vehicles, machinery, fuel and other goods worth $21 million from Iran between 2022 and 2024, Armenpress reported.



After winning re-election last month against an array of mostly pro-Russian opposition parties, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan pledged to act against what he called the "three-headed spy party of war", referring to the three main opposition groups: Strong Armenia, the Armenia Alliance and Tsarukyan's Prosperous Armenia.



During the campaign, Pashinyan had suggested opposition forces were threatening to drag Armenia back into war with Azerbaijan, with which it has been in conflict intermittently since the late 1980s.