Armenian Opposition Archbishop Placed in Two-Month Pre-Trial Detention on Terrorism Charges

A court in Yerevan ruled today that Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan be placed in pre-trial detention for two months on charges of terrorism, inciting public disorder, and plotting to seize power.

Galstyan led a protest movement in 2024 opposing the Armenian government’s plan to handover border regions to Azerbaijan, The Caspian Post reports citing Armenian media.

Armenia’s National Security Service took Galstyan into custody yesterday in Yerevan.

Following his detention, Armenia’s Investigative Committee (IC) issued a statement claiming it had evidence, including tapped telephone conversations, that Galstyan and numerous top organizers of the protest movement had planned to use terrorism and violence to seize power in the country.

At leats fourteen other members of the protest movement were also arrested on the same charges.