Hakobyan denies allegations against her Foundation
Anna Hakobyan, wife of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, says she plans to file counterclaims against rights activist Daniel Ioannisyan and the Independent Observer. She heads the My Step Foundation.
She says she has asked her lawyers to review the case. They will issue a statement that could provide grounds for criminal proceedings against Ioannisyan. She also plans a separate lawsuit against the bloc. It will seek compensation for damage to the foundation’s reputation. Hakobyan made the remarks at a news conference.
On 23 April, the Independent Observer bloc said it had gone to the Administrative Court. It wants Hakobyan held responsible under administrative law. Ioannisyan says a foundation “affiliated” with the ruling party should have halted its work once the decree calling elections took effect. He says it continued operating.
Hakobyan says she is not taking part in the election. She says she is not campaigning.
She said the bloc had found no “direct evidence of campaigning”. The issue, she said, is that critics associate the foundation’s charity programmes — and her personally — with the ruling party.
Hakobyan says she sees no reason to suspend the foundation’s programmes. She says the foundation does not violate Armenian law. She also says it has obligations to partners, including international ones. For that reason, she says, it must continue its work and meet those obligations.
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Anna Hakobyan: “There has never been campaigning among beneficiaries”
Anna Hakobyan invited journalists to a news conference to say her rights had been violated. She said those rights are protected by Armenia’s Constitution, domestic law and international conventions.
“I am determined to defend my rights as a woman, a citizen, a voter and a foundation director,” she said.
She argued that her electoral rights and freedom of choice had been infringed. In her view, a person’s political orientation and voting rights should not be a matter for public debate, regardless of who they are.
Hakobyan also said her rights under the United Nations convention on eliminating discrimination against women had been violated.
Hakobyan recalled that Armenia held local elections in September 2022. At the time, Mkhitar Hayrapetyan, a board member of the ruling party, served as executive director of the My Step Foundation. She said the foundation was running charitable programmes in the Shirak Province region, where elections were taking place.
“But at the time, there was no investigation aimed at holding the foundation or its director criminally or administratively responsible. I consider that a violation of the legal ban on discrimination against women,” she said.
She referred to an explanation by Armenia’s Central Election Commission. It says restrictions on charity apply only in two cases.
One is when members of a foundation’s governing body fully or partly overlap with a party’s permanent leadership, meaning the party effectively runs the foundation. The other is when the founder or head of a foundation is standing as a candidate in an election.
“In fact, neither the foundation’s executive director nor members of its board of trustees represent any political force or are candidates in the upcoming elections. No foundation programme has ever involved campaigning among beneficiaries,” Hakobyan said.
Asked by journalists whether the My Step Foundation is associated with the ruling party, she said people in Armenia should answer that question.
“I have no opinion on that. You ask whether it is associated. Daniel Ioannisyan believes it is. But what does that have to do with the election?”
Hakobyan said claims by the Independent Observer bloc are “debatable” and she will challenge them in court.
“Don’t rush to deliver a final verdict that we have supposedly broken something. The court will decide that. Maybe we lose. Maybe we don’t. I do not want to get ahead of events and assign myself the role of judge.”
The Independent Observer bloc’s position: what violations does it allege against the prime minister’s wife?
The Independent Observer bloc has gone to the Administrative Court, seeking administrative action against the executive director of the My Step Foundation over 15 alleged violations.
“Article 19, Part 6.1 of the Electoral Code says foundations affiliated with a political party must suspend their activities once the presidential decree calling elections comes into force,” said bloc representative Daniel Ioannisyan.
The law allows for a fine of up to 6 million drams, about $16,000, for such a violation.
Ioannisyan argues the My Step Foundation is clearly associated with the ruling Civil Contract party. He noted that the head of the foundation’s board of trustees is ruling faction lawmaker Lena Nazaryan, though she is not on the party’s 2026 election list.
“Besides that, My Step was the name of the bloc formed by Civil Contract in Yerevan City Council and in the previous parliamentary election. My Step is a brand used by the ruling party,” he said.
He says the foundation should have suspended its activities, but continued its charity programmes.
The Independent Observer bloc says it reviewed the foundation’s recent activities in detail and found no conduct amounting to a criminal offence.
“Article 221 of the Criminal Code makes charitable activity punishable when carried out by a candidate, a party member or an authorised representative. In essence, neither Anna Hakobyan nor the foundation is a candidate, a party, an authorised representative or a party member. So there are no signs of a criminal offence.”
Ioannisyan says the charity work was not accompanied by campaigning, which, he argues, also removes grounds for criminal liability.
Context
Several months ago, Anna Hakobyan said she was ending her relationship with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, with whom she had lived as a couple. She released a video saying she was leaving the government residence. She also referred to her work with the My Step Foundation. At the time, she did not rule out the possibility she could face criminal proceedings as the foundation’s executive director, though she gave no details.
After the presidential decree calling parliamentary elections took effect, the foundation announced free English courses for beginners. Some suggested that could amount to a breach of the ban on charitable activity during the election period. In late February, Artur Nahapetyan, head of the Anti-Corruption Committee, said the foundation’s activities were under review. More recently, however, he said his agency was pursuing no criminal case against Hakobyan.
As for her high-profile split with the prime minister, Hakobyan has recently appeared again in videos Pashinyan often posts from the government residence. She has also resumed accompanying him on trips around the country. Pashinyan said he had made efforts to bring her back and was happy to have another chance to keep the family together.
Hakobyan denies allegations against her Foundation