Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party, has been remanded in custody for one month. The ruling was announced shortly ago.

The case was assigned to Judge Levon Petrosyan, and the court hearing continued throughout the night.

Earlier, NEWS.am reported that Investigative Committee investigators had been conducting searches since early morning at the homes of Strong Armenia party leader Samvel Karapetyan and Narek Karapetyan, head of the Strong Armenia parliamentary faction.

The Investigative Committee told NEWS.am that simultaneous searches were being conducted at 65 addresses as part of a criminal case being investigated by its Main Directorate for the Investigation of Economic Crimes and Smuggling.

Later, the Committee issued a statement saying that Electric Networks of Armenia (ENA) had sustained damages of AMD 64.5 billion. It also said that public criminal prosecution had been initiated against Samvel Karapetyan and 35 other people, who had been detained.