Armenian authorities arrest six candidates for the pro-Russian opposition Strong Armenia party one day before a general election, state media reports. The detentions occur Saturday, ahead of the scheduled vote on Sunday. The authorities do not provide reasons for the arrests.
The candidates are linked to Strong Armenia, which is led by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. Karapetyan is under house arrest on charges related to allegedly calling for the overthrow of the government. He rejects the accusations as politically motivated.
Reporting on the election also notes the scale of the vote, with about 2.4 million Armenians eligible to cast ballots. The combination of the candidate arrests and the ongoing legal situation involving Karapetyan occurs amid heightened scrutiny of the political environment around the election.
