Nikol Pashinyan filed a lawsuit against billionaire Samvel Karapetyan, who accused the prime minister of using hallucinogenic mushrooms

Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan filed a civil lawsuit against the leader of the Strong Armenia party, billionaire Samvel Karapetyan. This was reported by the pro-government Telegram channel “Baghramyan 26” with reference to data from the Datalex judicial information system.

Pashinyan demands that Karapetyan refute his statement about “hallucinogenic mushrooms” and pay compensation in the amount of 6 million drams ($16 thousand). According to the lawsuit, the refutation must be posted in at least three media outlets with at least 200 thousand subscribers on YouTube.

As Armenian media reported, Karapetyan said during a press conference on May 7 that the Prime Minister uses hallucinogenic mushrooms: “Nikol Pashinyan brought mushrooms from China that cause hallucinations and uses them every time before a speech” ( quoted by News.am).

Later, representative of the Strong Armenia party, former director of Electric Networks of Armenia, David Kazinyan, stated that Pashinyan had allegedly long been suspected of using stimulants: “He [Karapetyan] stated that everyone always suspected, they just didn’t know whether it was mushrooms or something else.”

Pashinyan, in turn, promised that he would take Karapetyan to court and force him to “eat a ton of hallucinogenic mushrooms.”

Parliamentary elections will be held in Armenia on June 7. The country's Central Election Commission registered 19 political forces to participate in them, including the ruling Civil Contract party of Pashinyan and Strong Armenia of Karapetyan. The billionaire himself cannot run for office, since he decided to give up his Russian passport only this year. According to Armenian law, a mandatory condition for participation in elections is to have a single, Armenian, citizenship for at least the last four years. Karapetyan is also now under investigation on charges of public calls to seize power, money laundering, tax evasion and others.