July 4 - Armenia's constitutional court on Saturday rejected a request by the country's pro-Russian opposition to overturn the results of a June parliamentary election, in which pro-Western Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's party was re-elected, state news agency Armenpress reported.

Armenpress reported that the court had upheld the result, rejecting an appeal by the Strong Armenia opposition bloc, which took 23.3% of the vote, and which said there had been irregularities in the poll.

The ruling Civil Contract party took almost 50% of the vote.

Opposition groups complained of a spate of arrests before the vote that targeted their parliamentary candidates and supporters.

A group of international electoral observers, while noting the allegations of vote-buying and other electoral violations, said voting had gone smoothly in most polling stations. REUTERS

Armenia's top court rejects pro-Russia opposition's request to throw out election result