On 13 November 2025, the hosts of the Armenian podcast Imnemnimi, Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, were detained for their 10 November 2025 programme on the YouTube channel AntiFake TV.
Lawyer and human rights activist Ruben Melikyan specified that the journalists had been charged with ‘hooliganism’ and condemned the arrests as an attack on freedom of speech and an act of political persecution. This incident comes at a time when independent media and critical voices are increasingly targeted for political persecution, raising concerns about the state of democracy and the protection of fundamental freedoms in Armenia. The Armenian Investigative Committee confirmed that urgent investigative actions are being carried out in the apartments of the authors of the Imnemnemi podcast as part of a criminal case.
Ruben Melikyan also reported that Antifeika journalist David Fidanyan was also arrested on the strange suspicion of ‘obstruction of justice.’
According to Radio Liberty, investigators said that the hooliganism charges were brought in connection with the content of November 10 episode of the Imnemnim podcast, in which Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan criticised Parliament Speaker Alen Simonyan.
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According to Melikyan, the arrests are aimed at restricting freedom of speech and are yet another manifestation of political persecution. ‘This is a severe restriction of freedom of speech,’ the lawyer said in his live broadcast.
Critical voices are increasingly becoming the target of political persecution, raising concerns about the state of democracy and the protection of fundamental freedoms in Armenia.
The Armenian Investigative Committee has confirmed that searches are being conducted in the apartments of the authors of the Imnemnimi podcast.
Armenia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against Imnemnemi podcast hosts Narek Samsonyan and Vazgen Saghatelyan, Armenia Today has learned. They are charged under paragraphs 1 and 3 of Part 2 of Article 297 of the Criminal Code – hooliganism committed by a group of persons using information or communication technologies. The maximum punishment under this article is up to five years in prison. A motion has already been filed with the court to impose a preventive measure in the form of detention on the detainees.
The Armenian authorities continue to terrorise opposition figures, whether politicians, entrepreneurs, journalists, lawyers or bloggers, with a persistence that could be better applied elsewhere. Every day, the ruling power sets a new ‘record’. Today’s spectacle of harsh detentions of bloggers is a ‘new “height” of press and information freedom in the stronghold of democracy’, said Gohar Meloyan, co-founder of the International Centre for the Development of Parliamentarism, human rights activist and constitutional law expert, commenting on the search of the AntiFake.am editorial office and the seizure of all equipment.
It should be recalled that in an exclusive broadcast on 7 November 2025 on the AntiFake TV YouTube channel (78,900 subscribers), the guest was former Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan (239,000 views).
Main source: https://armactu.fr/en/2025/11/13/23631/
