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| Ex-Soviet state arrests opposition cleric on terrorism charges | Ex-Soviet state arrests opposition cleric on terrorism charges |
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| Bagrat Galstanyan sought to overthrow the government in the wake of the 2024 protests, Armenia’s Investigative Committee has charged | |
| Armenian authorities have arrested a high-profile cleric for alleged terrorism and attempts to stage a coup, according to the country’s Investigative Committee and footage on social media. | |
| Bagrat Galstanyan was a key leader in the demonstrations calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to step down after he agreed to return several border villages to Azerbaijan. The move was meant to help mend still tenuous relations between the two former Soviet republics. | Bagrat Galstanyan was a key leader in the demonstrations calling for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to step down after he agreed to return several border villages to Azerbaijan. The move was meant to help mend still tenuous relations between the two former Soviet republics. |
| In a statement on Wednesday, the Investigative Committee accused a movement called ‘Holy Struggle’, as well as its leaders, including Galstanyan, of harboring plans “to carry out terrorist acts and actions aimed at seizing power in Armenia.” Officials said that while the movement tried last summer to achieve its goals by fueling protests, it later decided to change its tactics, preparing “actions of small strike groups.” | |
| The Committee also accused the movement of laying the groundwork for the use of force, including recruiting more than 1,000 people, gathering intelligence required to disable traffic lights and electricity in the Armenian capital, Yerevan, and acquiring “thousands of incendiary devices intended for explosions.” | |
| According to local media, Galstanyan was taken into custody by security forces, with his home being searched. | |
| Pashinyan responded to the reports, saying, without mentioning Galstanyan by name, that law enforcement had foiled a “large and shameful plan of the ‘criminal oligarchic clergy’ to destabilize the Republic of Armenia.” | |
| Galstanyan, a senior bishop of the Armenian Apostolic Church, emerged as a central figure in Armenia’s 2024 protest movement. The demonstrations were sparked by Pashinyan’s decision to return four border villages in the Tavush region to Azerbaijan – a move that many Armenians viewed as a betrayal of national interests. | |
| The prime minister has framed the handover as part of broader efforts to normalize ties with Azerbaijan and formally demarcate the border, following decades of tension over the Nagorno-Karabakh region. | |
| As the head of the Tavush diocese, Galstanyan led a protest march from Tavush to Yerevan, later leading mass rallies in the capital demanding Pashinyan’s resignation and the formation of a transitional government. At one point, the cleric positioned himself as a candidate for prime minister, although his dual citizenship with Canada makes him ineligible to hold the post. | |
| The arrest comes after Armenian authorities detained Samvel Karapetyan, a Russian-Armenian billionaire, who voiced support for the Armenian Apostolic Church in the conflict with the authorities. Karapetyan is facing charges of calling for the overthrow of the government. |