The Anti-Corruption Court has decided to place opposition Strong Armenia party's Stepanavan city mayoral candidate Arsen Gevorgyan under pretrial detention for two months.

This was reported by Tigran Abrahamyan, secretary of the opposition "Strong Armenia" Faction of the National Assembly, in an interview with Armenian News-NEWS.am.

Early this morning, law enforcement officers began widespread searches in Stepanavan, where local government elections are slated on Sunday. After the searches, a number of Strong Armenia party supporters were arrested.

The Anti-Corruption Court is currently considering the preventive measures for more than a dozen people. They are accused of vote buying. The Strong Armenia party has reflected on this development and called it a political persecution.