International Law Firm Releases White Paper Highlighting Interference with Church in Armenia
Sfexaminer.com
Amsterdam & Partners LLP documents detention of philanthropist and arrests of clergy amid church-state tensions
LONDON — International law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP has published a comprehensive white paper examining what it characterizes as systematic persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church and the detention of its client, businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, by the Armenian government.
The 53-page document, titled “Armenia’s Authoritarian Turn: Nikol Pashinyan and the Persecution of Samvel Karapetyan and the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church,” was originally published in October and details escalating tensions between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration and the Armenian Apostolic Church, one of the world’s oldest Christian institutions.
Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, argues in the paper that the Armenian government has engaged in actions that violate both domestic constitutional protections and international human rights commitments. “The campaign against the AAHC must end,” Amsterdam writes in the document’s conclusion. “Samvel Karapetyan must be released, the charges against him must be dropped, and his business interests must be restored.”
The Case of Samvel Karapetyan
At the center of the white paper is the case of Samvel Karapetyan, a leading Armenian businessman and philanthropist who was arrested on June 18, 2025 after making public comments in support of the Church.
According to the white paper, Karapetyan was responding to alleged “vulgar personal attacks” by Prime Minister Pashinyan on the Church’s spiritual leader, Catholicos Karekin II. In his statement, Karapetyan said: “If the politicians fail, then we will participate in our own way in all of this.”
The white paper contends that this statement constitutes legitimate free speech and that Karapetyan’s detention is politically motivated. As of the document’s publication, Karapetyan had been held in Yerevan-Kentron detention facility for over 100 days without trial.
Karapetyan, who founded the Tashir Group, has been a significant investor in Armenia since acquiring Electrical Networks of Armenia in 2015. According to the white paper, he and his family have invested approximately $700 million in Armenia’s electrical infrastructure and employ around 15,000 people across various businesses in the country. The document also details his extensive philanthropic work, including funding church restorations, medical facilities, and providing housing for refugees from Nagorno-Karabakh.
Church-State Tensions
The white paper provides extensive factual documentation of deteriorating relations between the Pashinyan government and the Armenian Apostolic Church since June 2025. According to the document, the Prime Minister published a series of Facebook posts containing personal accusations against Catholicos Karekin II and calling for his removal from office.
The document quotes from multiple posts in which Pashinyan allegedly demanded that “the Republic of Armenia should have a decisive vote in the election of the Catholicos of All Armenians” and announced plans to form a coordination group to facilitate the spiritual leader’s replacement.
According to the white paper, four senior clergy members have been arrested and detained:
- Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, head of Shirak diocese, arrested June 28 and subsequently sentenced to two years in prison
- Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, head of Tavush diocese, arrested June 25 along with 17 parishioners
- Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, head of Aragatsotn diocese, arrested October 15 along with five other clergy
- Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of Etchmiadzin, arrested December 4
With these four clergymembers imprisoned, Armenia has now jailed half of the country’s archbishops.
Legal and Constitutional Arguments
The white paper grounds its arguments in both Armenian constitutional law and international human rights frameworks. It cites Article 18 of Armenia’s 2015 Constitution, which recognizes the Armenian Apostolic Church’s “exclusive mission in the spiritual life of the Armenian people, in the development of their national culture and preservation of their national identity.”
