An appeals court on Monday reportedly acquitted a former opposition mayor of Vanadzor who spent more than two and a half years in prison after winning a municipal election held in Armenia’s third largest city in 2021.
Mamikon Aslanian, who had run Vanadzor for five years, was poised to regain the post of mayor after his bloc won most votes in the election, defeating the ruling Civil Contract party. However, Aslanian was arrested and indicted two days before the inaugural session of the new city council empowered to elect the mayor. He was charged with illegally privatizing municipal land during his tenure.
Six months after he was released from custody on bail in July 2024, Aslanian was sentenced to four and a half years in prison. A court of first instance also banned the 52-year-old from holding public office for three years.
Aslanian, who rejects the accusations as politically motivated, announced the “unexpected decision” made by the Anti-Corruption Court of Appeals in a video posted on social media. He said the court cleared him of the main charge that led to his imprisonment and invoked the statute of limitations to throw out the other accusations.
“Let’s wait for the [full text of the] court's decision to figure out our further actions,” added the ex-mayor, who was elected to the Armenian parliament on the opposition Strong Armenia alliance’s ticket in the June 7 elections.
It was not immediately clear whether prosecutors will appeal to the higher Court of Cassation against the acquittal.
Shortly after Aslanian’s arrest, another court banned Vanadzor’s newly elected council from choosing a mayor until it rules on an appeal against the vote results filed by a pro-government party. The city is still run by a government-appointed interim mayor, with the Armenian opposition accusing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian of effectively overturning the local election results.
Defiant opposition mayors have been regularly prosecuted during Pashinian’s rule. Vartan Ghukasian, the mayor of the country’s second largest city of Gyumri, was arrested on corruption charges in October 2025 more than six months after defeating, together with other opposition groups, the ruling party in a municipal election. Ghukasian was moved to house arrest in July.