The Investigative Committee of Armenia will file a motion in court to ensure the arrest of Bagrat Galstanyan, the archbishop and leader of the nationalist “Sacred Struggle” movement, amid an ongoing investigation involving multiple opposition figures.
The statement came from Bagrat Galstanyan’s lawyer, Sergey Arutyunyan, who also said that his client refused to testify and does not acknowledge the charges brought against him, Caliber.Az reports, citing Armenian media.
The lawyer of the detained businessman Tigran Galstyan, Ruben Melikyan, also noted that his client does not admit guilt.
Local media reports also claim that the Investigative Committee does not allow the defence team to make any public statements of this nature.
Melikyan explained that all 14 individuals were detained as part of a single criminal case. However, it was decided that each of them must have a separate lawyer.
To recall, in the early hours of June 25, Armenian law enforcement launched a coordinated series of searches across the country, targeting residences linked to members and supporters of the revanchist “Tavush for the Homeland” movement—also known as the “Sacred Struggle.”
The operations extended to the apartment of the movement’s leader, revanchist Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, a figure known for his vocal opposition to the Armenian government’s border delimitation policies with Azerbaijan.
Later in the day, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan addressed the situation in a Facebook post, accusing "criminal-oligarchic-clerical circles" of attempting to orchestrate a coup. He noted that the attempt failed due to the timely intervention of law enforcement.
The developments come amid heightened political tensions in Armenia, where opposition factions and segments of the powerful Armenian Apostolic Church have strongly criticised Pashinyan’s leadership, especially over his government’s foreign policy stance, efforts to normalise relations with Türkiye and Azerbaijan, and the management of ties with Russia.
By Khagan Isayev
Source: caliber.az
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