Armenia’s National Security Service has arrested former Foreign Minister Alexander Arzumanian, an outspoken government critic, as a suspect for money laundering, in what opposition leaders claim is a hamfisted attempt to silence government opponents on the eve of the May 12 parliamentary vote.

Arzumanian was arrested late in the evening of May 7, while returning home from his job as head of the Civil Disobedience Movement non-governmental organization. Arzumanian’s wife, Melissa Brown, told EurasiaNet that he was allowed to make one phone call before his detention, and assured her that “[t]hey have no grounds for charging me.”

Arzumanian’s attorney, Hovik Arsenian, told EurasiaNet that the former foreign minister is currently being held in Yerevan’s Kentron prison: “He has been detained for the moment as a suspect,” Arsenian said. “I hope they will not go beyond this.” Arzumanian’s apartment and office were raided on May 5 in connection with the case. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

Under the law, investigators have 72 hours to either charge Arzumanian for money laundering or to release him.

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Defense Minister Vahan Shirkhanian, also under investigation for money laundering, was called to the National Security Service (NSS) on May 8 along with his family for further questioning. He was later released. “As I have nothing to tell, they told me that I will be called again,” he told EurasiaNet. Shirkhanian’s apartment has also been searched.

Arkadi Karapetian, another member of the Civil Disobedience Movement, was invited to the NSS for questioning related to the case on the evening of May 7. Other individuals have also been called in. [For details, see the Eurasia Insight archive.]

Under article 190 of the Armenian criminal code, the National Security Service charges that Arzumanian illegally received $180,000 from a Moscow-based businessman named Levon Markos, who is wanted for forgery. An NSS statement about the arrest suggested that Markos had made the transfer to foster some form of unrest before the election. The statement claimed that he “pursues certain aims and has expectations of their fulfillment in the pre-election period.”

In an earlier interview with EurasiaNet, Arzumanian denied that he had met with Markos during a recent visit to Moscow that has reportedly sparked investigators’ interest.

Markos is thought to have been a former adversary of Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, though details of their differences are not widely known. That status has prompted some opposition leaders to charge that the arrest and investigation are politically motivated.

Vazgen Manukian, the leader of the opposition National Democratic Union and post-Soviet Armenia’s first prime minister (1990-1992), terms the case “ridiculous.”

“Where on earth could a coup d’etat be done for $180,000?” Manukian asked supporters at a May 7 rally. “Even the smallest parties spend at least $100,000 for [their] campaigns.”

Aram Karapetian, leader of the radical oppositional New Times Party, which has recently joined forces with the Republic Party and Impeachment bloc to stage demonstrations against election fraud, echoed that disbelief.

“They try to keep us silent, to warn us not to move, otherwise a similar case will be cooked up against us,” he said at a May 8 meeting with journalists. Arzumanian and Shirkhanian both served under Armenia’s first president, Levon Ter-Petrossian.

The government has not yet commented on the arrest, but the NSS has stated that it has “serious grounds” for its investigation.

Editor’s Note: Gayane Abrahamyan is a reporter for the independent online weekly Armenia Now in Yerevan.