Armenian Deputy Parliamentary Speaker likens jailed opposition members to Osama bin Laden

During a tense debate in the Armenian Parliament on Tuesday, Deputy Parliamentary Speaker Vahagn Aleksanyan compared opposition members jailed on terrorism charges and for allegedly seeking to overthrow the government to notorious terrorist Osama bin Laden.

The exchange came as opposition Armenia Alliance MP Lilit Galstyan was being questioned for her nomination to chair the Standing Committee on Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs.

Aleksanyan recalled her earlier comments in which she had described colleagues Artur Sargsyan, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, and others facing terrorism-related charges as being not guilty of their alleged crimes.

Galstyan was asked whether she would have made the same claim about bin Laden if he had been convicted in Armenia.

‘I do not see any difference between them’, concluded Aleksanyan.

Galstyan called the comparison unacceptable, saying that it insulted her as a believer in the Armenian Apostolic Church and declined to respond further.

The charge referenced by Aleksanyan is connected to an alleged coup plan claimed by the Pashnyan regime. It was accompanied by searches, arrests, and detentions targeting leaders and participants of the Holy Struggle movement, including former Armenia Alliance MP Artur Sargsyan.

The leader of the movement and former head of the Tavush Diocese, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, was arrested on charges of terrorism and attempting to seize power. In June 2026, the Court of Appeals changed the pre-trial detention of Archbishop Galstanyan, who had been in custody for about a year, to house arrest after the court saw no grounds for keeping him under arrest.