Pashinyan rebukes statement by clergymen calling for release of coup plot suspects
Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has reacted to the calls by senior clergymen from Armenia and the Diaspora to release the two jailed archbishops and business tycoon Samvel Karapetyan.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan of the Armenian Apostolic Church are jailed in pre-trial detention. Galstanyan is accused of plotting to seize power and conspiracy to commit terrorism, while Ajapahyan is accused of publicly advocating the overthrown of government. Both deny wrongdoing.
Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian business magnate, is jailed on charges of advocating overthrow of government. He denied wrongdoing.
In a statement on Facebook, Pashinyan hinted that the statement by the clergy was approved by Catholicos Karekin II. He addressed the Church leader and the bishops by their secular names. Pashinyan has numerously accused both the church leader and several top clergymen of illegitimately holding office and has refrained from addressing them by their titles.
“If Ktrij Nersisyan deems the jailing of Vazgen Galstanyan and Gevorg Ajapahyan as illegal, then he shares the ideology and plans of these persons to stage a coup d’etat, kill people and create chaos in the country,” Pashinyan said. “Moreover, no territory of Vagharshapat municipality can be closed for law enforcement actions, especially when these territories aren’t closed for lewdness due to Ktrij and several other people,” he added, referring to his accusations against several clergymen of breaching their vow of celibacy. Vagharshapat is home to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiatsin.
On July 4, top clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church released a statement calling on authorities to free Galstanyan, Ajapahyan and Karapetyan from custody. They claimed their arrest is illegal.
