TBILISI: Six Armenian clergymen were detained on Wednesday, their lawyer said, amid a widening crackdown that has seen some religious figures accused of plotting coups in the South Caucasus country.
Five priests belonging to the Aragatsotn diocese of the Apostolic Church in western Armenia as well as its most senior figure, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, were brought into custody following searches of their homes, lawyer Ara Zograbyan wrote on Facebook. A number of civilians were also arrested, he said.
Armenian authorities have not yet published statements on the detentions. The Investigative Committee, the judiciary’s main investigative arm, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The arrests of the six come after another pastor at a church in the same region gave an interview last month on public television alleging that the Apostolic Church had forced its members to participate in anti-government rallies in 2021 against Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
An Armenian non-profit group, the Union of Informed Citizens, subsequently filed a request to state prosecutors to investigate the claim by the pastor, Father Ter Aram.
A senior council of the Apostolic Church condemned Wednesday’s arrests as showcasing the government’s “systemic pressure on the Armenian Church,” according to a statement cited by Armenian media.
The confrontation between the government and the Church comes as Pashinyan faces parliamentary elections next June and is under domestic pressure to conclude a peace agreement with Azerbaijan to end decades of conflict between the South Caucasus neighbors.
The crackdown on the clergy began this summer with the arrests of several prominent clerics on charges of attempts to incite violent coups.
One of them, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, was sentenced to two years in prison earlier this month following what the Apostolic Church called a politically-motivated trial.
Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, another jailed cleric who is awaiting trial, led street protests against Pashinyan last year over what he cast as territorial concessions made to Azerbaijan following wars in 2020 and 2023.
Some senior clerics have previously called for Pashinyan to step down over Armenia’s military defeats against Azerbaijan.
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Six priests detained in Armenia as investigation into church figures widens
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Six priests detained in Armenia as investigation into church figures widens
- Five priests belonging to the Aragatsotn diocese of the Apostolic Church in western Armenia as well as its most senior figure, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, were brought into custody
Moderate candidate wins emphatically over a populist in Portugal’s presidential runoff
LISBON: Center-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election Sunday, according to official results with 99 percent of votes counted.
Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with 66.7 percent of votes, compared with 33.3 percent for Ventura.
The ballot was an opportunity to test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Enough) party the second-biggest in the Portuguese parliament, as well as gauge the public appetite for Europe’s increasing shift to the right in recent years.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and said on social media that “Portugal’s voice for our shared European values remains strong.”
Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal’s center-right minority government, repudiating Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.
He won the backing of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to halt the rising populist tide.
In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead with no executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions.
However, the president is an influential voice and possesses some powerful tools, being able to veto legislation from parliament, although the veto can be overturned. The head of state also possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is called an “atomic bomb,” the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
In May, Portugal held its third general election in three years in the country’s worst bout of political instability for decades, and steadying the ship is a key challenge for the next president.
Ventura, an eloquent and theatrical politician, rejected political accommodation in favor of a more combative stance.
Ventura said he will keep working to bring about a political “transformation” in Portugal.
“I tried to show there’s a different way … that we needed a different kind of president,” he told reporters.
Making it through to the runoff was already a milestone for Ventura and his party, which have recalibrated Portuguese politics.
One of Ventura’s main targets has been what he calls excessive immigration, as foreign workers have become more conspicuous in Portugal in recent years.
“Portugal is ours,” he said.
During the campaign, Ventura put up billboards across the country saying, “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare.”
Although he founded his party less than seven years ago, its surge in public support made it the second-largest party in Portugal’s parliament in the May 18 general election.
Seguro will next month replace center-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.
Seguro won a five-year term in Lisbon’s riverside “pink palace” with 66.7 percent of votes, compared with 33.3 percent for Ventura.
The ballot was an opportunity to test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Enough) party the second-biggest in the Portuguese parliament, as well as gauge the public appetite for Europe’s increasing shift to the right in recent years.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and said on social media that “Portugal’s voice for our shared European values remains strong.”
Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal’s center-right minority government, repudiating Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.
He won the backing of other mainstream politicians on the left and right who want to halt the rising populist tide.
In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead with no executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions.
However, the president is an influential voice and possesses some powerful tools, being able to veto legislation from parliament, although the veto can be overturned. The head of state also possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is called an “atomic bomb,” the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
In May, Portugal held its third general election in three years in the country’s worst bout of political instability for decades, and steadying the ship is a key challenge for the next president.
Ventura, an eloquent and theatrical politician, rejected political accommodation in favor of a more combative stance.
Ventura said he will keep working to bring about a political “transformation” in Portugal.
“I tried to show there’s a different way … that we needed a different kind of president,” he told reporters.
Making it through to the runoff was already a milestone for Ventura and his party, which have recalibrated Portuguese politics.
One of Ventura’s main targets has been what he calls excessive immigration, as foreign workers have become more conspicuous in Portugal in recent years.
“Portugal is ours,” he said.
During the campaign, Ventura put up billboards across the country saying, “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare.”
Although he founded his party less than seven years ago, its surge in public support made it the second-largest party in Portugal’s parliament in the May 18 general election.
Seguro will next month replace center-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional limit of two five-year terms.
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