Armenian opposition mayor detained after prime minister vows crackdown

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FILE PHOTO: Armenias Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan attends a meeting with Russias President Vladimir Putin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, September 26, 2025. REUTERS/Ramil Sitdikov/Pool/File Photo

TBILISI - The opposition mayor of Armenias second-largest city was detained on charges of bribe-taking on Monday, as authorities crack down on government critics before an election next year in the South Caucasus country.

Vardan Ghukasyan, the mayor of Gyumri, is an ally of the pro-Russian opposition leader Robert Kocharyan, who served as Armenias president from 1998 to 2008.

Led by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, who swept to power following street protests in 2018, Armenia has moved closer to the West and distanced itself from traditional ally Russia.

Recent months have seen a widespread clampdown on Pashinyans political rivals and critics, including opposition figures, senior church figures and another former president ahead of a parliamentary election to be held next June.

Armenias anti-corruption committee said on Monday it had opened an investigation into Ghukasyan and seven others on suspicion they had demanded a bribe of roughly $10,000 from a local citizen in connection with an unauthorised building project.

Armenian media outlets posted video on Telegram showing large numbers of police assembled outside the administrative building in Gyumri, a city of some 110,000.

The Gyumri mayors office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ghukasyans arrest comes after Pashinyan vowed earlier this month to throw out the Gyumri mayor and questioned his victory in an election in the spring in which Pashinyans Civil Contract party