6 Armenian Pastors Detained On Charges Of Coup Plans

PIXABAY'S ILLUSTRATION

Six Armenian priests were detained amid widespread crackdown that led to several religious leaders accused of planning a coup in the South Kaukasus country.

Five pastors from the Aragatsotn Diocese of the Apostolik Church in western Armenia and their most senior figure, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, were detained after their homes were searched, lawyer Ara Zograbyan wrote on Facebook. A number of civilians were also arrested.

Reported by Reuters on Wednesday, October 15, the Armenian authorities have not issued a statement regarding the detention. The Investigative Committee, the judiciary's main investigative body, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The arrests of the six people came after another pastor at a church in the same region conducted an interview last month on public television accusing the Apostolic Church of forcing his congregation to participate in anti-government protests in 2021 against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

The non-profit Armenia group, Union of Informationed Citizens, then submitted a request to the state prosecutor to investigate the priest's claim, Father Ter Aram.

The senior board of the Apostolik Church denounced Wednesday's arrest as evidence of the government's "systemic pressure" on the Armenian Church, according to a statement quoted by the Armenian media.

The confrontation between the government and the Church comes as Pashinyan faces parliamentary elections next June and is under domestic pressure to reach a peace agreement with Azerbaijan to end decades of conflict between neighboring countries in the South Case.

A crackdown on the demonstrators began this summer with the arrests of several prominent priests on charges of inciting a violent coup.

One of them, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahayan, was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month following what the Apostholic Church called a politically motivated trial.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, another imprisoned scholar and awaiting trial, led street protests against Pashinyan last year over what he called the territorial concessions given to Azerbaijan after the war in 2020 and 2023.