After Artur Danielyan’s arrest, could selective prosecution undermine Armenia’s ties with the EU?

Danielyan arrested over posts

In early October, authorities arrested Artur Danielyan, who leads the opposition party Adekvad. The cited grounds were Facebook posts criticizing Pashinyan and Armenia’s security services. Danielyan also attacked the prime minister over his position on a possible prisoner exchange involving an Azerbaijani soldier held in Armenia. In an interview with Infocom, Pashinyan ruled out exchanging the soldier for Armenians detained in Azerbaijan; Danielyan called him a “scumbag,” accusing him of failing to bring fellow citizens home.

Civil society warns of selective justice

More than a dozen Armenian civil society organizations condemned Danielyan’s prosecution, describing it as “patently illegal, disproportionate, and politically motivated.” Their joint statement said the case was punitive and aimed at silencing dissent and critical views. The dispute unfolds against the background of Armenia’s decades-long conflict with Azerbaijan over Nagorno-Karabakh. After Azerbaijan’s 2023 military offensive restored its control over the territory, more than 100,000 Armenians fled; 19 Armenian individuals are currently detained in Baku, including former senior officials from the region’s de facto administration.

Other cases raise concerns

Ahead of parliamentary elections in June, displaced Nagorno-Karabakh activist Artur Osipyan was arrested after a verbal clash with Pashinyan over the prime minister’s policy. Prosecutors charged him with disrupting public order, obstructing the ruling party’s campaign and inciting violence against Pashinyan in a March social media post.

A 2025 Freedom House report said nearly 95% of cases under a 2020 criminal-code amendment on incitement to violence involved alleged threats against Pashinyan and his supporters. The report said potentially prohibited statements by ruling-party members apparently did not receive the same scrutiny. The offences were later decriminalized following strong civil society opposition.

EU response remains unclear

During the 2026 pre-election period, the Regional Center for Democracy and Security monitored online hate speech targeting Nagorno-Karabakh refugees. It reported that pro-government bloggers and influential social media users directed hostile rhetoric at displaced Karabakh Armenians, while law enforcement largely did not pursue criminal cases against them.

Observers in Yerevan told DW that Brussels had not clearly addressed the silencing of opposition voices, despite Armenia’s efforts to strengthen EU ties. Political analyst Tigran Grigoryan described the EU’s approach as “very pragmatic and geopolitically driven,” citing regional developments and Armenia’s role as an EU partner.