Lawyer to spotlight persecution of senior clerics and Samvel Karapetyan at Washington summit

The annual International Religious Freedom Summit is taking place in Washington on 2-3 February, with Armenian lawyer Aram Vardevanyan among the speakers. Vardevanyan is representing the interests of philanthropist and businessman Samvel Karapetyan, who is currently imprisoned in Armenia.

He said the summit carries particular significance given recent developments in Armenia, where the Armenian Apostolic Church has faced political pressure, interference and prosecutions targeting senior clergymen, the church leader and Karapetyan himself.

Vardevanyan also pointed to the situation in Artsakh (Nagorno-Karabakh), where churches and monasteries remain inaccessible and even the right to pray there is restricted. He argued these conditions represent serious obstacles to the exercise of religious freedom.

“The protection of the Armenian Apostolic Church falls squarely within the guarantees of religious liberty,” he said, calling for the release of all political prisoners.