Vanetsyan slams detention of senior Armenian clerics

Homeland Party leader Artur Vanetsyan has denounced the Armenian leadership's campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church and the recent detention of senior clerics.

In an interview with Sputnik Armenia on Friday, Vanetsyan, a former director of the National Security Service (NSS), also condemned the criminal case against businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan as "absurd and baseless”.

"A man gives an interview without any criminal content or incitement to seize power, yet he’s charged and detained," Vanetsyan said.

Vanetsyan framed the arrests of senior clergymen as part of the authorities’ campaign to discredit the Armenian Apostolic Church and portray it as a political actor attempting to seize power.

"We are witnessing daily efforts to tarnish the image of the church and foster a public perception that it is involved in politics. Sadly, the church has chosen to stay out of active confrontation," he noted.

Vanetsyan suggested that religious leaders should take a firmer stand amid growing political pressure. "When you speak to clergymen, it's clear they are trying to avoid becoming part of any political process," he said.

Vanetsyan also recalled that some senior clergy, including Archbishops Bagrat Galstanyan and Mikayel Ajapahyan, had publicly supported the 2018 revolution. "Today, the ruling regime seeks only to cling to power and discredit anyone who dares to criticize it," he asserted.

Addressing the June 27 NSS raid at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, Vanetsyan condemned the operation as a grave violation of protocol.

"The NSS special forces should not have been involved in such operations. It was a disgrace. Who could have imagined a day when clergy would be forced to defend the Mother See and its archbishop from state security agents?" the politician said.

Vanetsyan also dismissed Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s claims that sensitive details of clerics' private lives had been contained in intelligence briefings presented to him by the NSS.

"I've never encountered such practices. If it's true, the Prosecutor General's Office must launch an investigation. On what legal grounds are clergymen being monitored? Are we living in a democracy or an authoritarian country?" he asked.