The “authoritarian” prime minister has banned the spiritual leader of the world’s oldest Christian country from traveling abroad, writes international human rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam.
“The move follows the announcement by the Church’s most prominent patron, who is under house arrest, of his intention to run against the prime minister.
The West’s silence over the persecution of Christians in Armenia has been called “shameful.”
The leader of the church in the world’s oldest Christian country has been charged and banned from leaving the country.
Catholicos Karekin II of the Armenian Apostolic Church has been charged with obstructing a court order, preventing him from attending a major gathering of Church representatives in Austria this week.
This comes after the Church’s decision to hold its next bishops’ conference outside Armenia amid growing concerns about government interference. A meeting of bishops convened to discuss “recent developments in the Church” has been postponed “due to pressure on the clergy and internal political problems in Armenia.” The decision to hold the Great Church Council outside Armenia is a significant step and reflects the deteriorating state of religious freedom in the country.
The meeting will be held in St. Pölten, near Vienna, as the bishops fear arrests and political interference if the event were held in Armenia. Due to a criminal case, the Catholicos will now be forced to participate via Zoom.
For months, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has publicly criticized and attacked Catholicos Karekin II. Armenian authorities have arrested clergy and influential church supporters and confiscated property. Numerous Armenian bishops have been detained by security forces.
Pashinyan also announced his intention to seize control of Armenia’s largest religious organization, a violation of Article 17 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. In a statement, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said the government would take over the Armenian Apostolic Church and replace it with a “true, pure, and state-oriented church” that would not be allowed to… oppose state interests.
The church’s most influential supporter, philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan, was arrested for supporting church independence. However, this did not stop Mr. Karapetyan from announcing his decision to run against Pashinyan for prime minister in the next election.
In his address, delivered through the innovative use of artificial intelligence, Mr. Karapetyan said:
“By arresting and detaining me, a small group of people thought they could silence and isolate not only me, but also the voice of Armenia, the voice of our people, the voice of our citizens—the voice of all of you.”
Robert Amsterdam, founder and managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, who represents Mr. Karapetyan, noted: “Pashinyan is the epitome of a ‘failed authoritarian leader,’ attempting to change Armenian and European laws to suit his paranoid sense of mistrust.
He is attempting to undermine the legitimacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The Apostolic Church is founded on a leadership that forms an unbroken chain of succession, dating back to the early Christian apostles.”
Only the Bolsheviks exhibited such behavior. The silence of Europe and the West is shameful, and the fact that Armenia, in addition to those imprisoned in Baku, also has Christian prisoners is a disgrace and a stain on this beautiful country.
Now is the time for the West and the Armenian people to defend the values of freedom of religion and conscience,” he wrote.