Armenian opposition MP meets jailed clergymen

Opposition lawmaker Tigran Abrahamyan has met with Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan at the Yerevan-Kentron Penitentiary.

In a statement following the visit on Friday, Abrahamyan, who represents the Pativ Unem faction, condemned the “persecution” of Armenian clerics.

“As part of the ongoing attacks against the Mother See, numerous clergymen are facing persecution on fabricated charges,” he wrote. “The goal is to discredit the Armenian Apostolic Church.”

Abrahamyan stressed that the church remains a “vital institution ensuring the nation’s resilience and public solidarity”, warning that the campaign against it "sows division and hostility within society".

He called for the release of the clerics and all political prisoners.