Armenia cracks down on opposition clerics, including Armenian-Canadian archbishop, after claiming to foil coup attempt

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a major figure in the influential Apostolic Church arrested by Armenian authorities on Wednesday, gestures while addressing a crowd during a rally against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan in Yerevan, May 26, 2024. (Stepan Poghosyan/Photolure via AP, File)

An Armenian court on Thursday put an influential cleric into two months of pre-trial detention on coup attempt charges, a day after authorities claimed to have foiled a plot to overthrow the government.

Authorities arrested Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a charismatic senior church figure opposing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, along with other 14 suspects, part of a large-scale crackdown on Galstanyan’s Sacred Struggle movement.

On Thursday, “a court of general jurisdiction in Yerevan decided to send Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan to a pre-trial detention for a period of two months,” one of his lawyers, Hovhannes Khudoyan, told journalists.

Armenia’s Investigative Committee said the court granted motions for pre-trial detention for all the detained, adding that “15 suspects have been placed in custody”.

Galstanyan emerged as a key opposition figure last year after accusing Pashinyan of making unacceptable concessions to Armenia’s arch-rival Azerbaijan, leading mass protests against the prime minister.

Later on Thursday, Armenia’s prosecutor general office announced it had opened a criminal case against another senior cleric.

Archbishop Mikael Adjapahyan is accused of making “public calls aimed at seizing power... and violently overthrowing the constitutional order”, it said in a statement.

Deeply divided since 2023 war

Armenia has been deeply divided since its defeat in the 2023 war with Azerbaijan over the disputed Karabakh region, which has led to exodus of more than 100,000 ethnic Armenians.

Pashinyan has since faced a backlash over his efforts to normalize ties with Baku, including ceding border areas, a move critics denounced as a capitulation -- as Azerbaijan has demanded sweeping concessions in exchange for lasting peace.

Galstanyan, aligned with the Apostolic Church’s influential head, Catholicos Garegin II, stepped down from clerical duties last year to challenge Pashinyan for the premiership, though his dual Armenian-Canadian citizenship bars him from holding office.

This month, Pashinyan escalated the feud with the church by accusing Garegin II -- who is calling for his resignation -- of fathering an illegitimate child and urging believers to oust him, prompting calls for Pashinyan’s excommunication.

The Armenian Apostolic Church wields considerable influence in the Caucasus country, which in the fourth century became the first nation to adopt Christianity as a state religion.

Pashinyan, a former journalist and lawmaker who came to power after protests, remains firmly in control thanks to a parliamentary majority and weak, fragmented opposition forces.