Religious freedom advocates urge Armenian government to end attacks  on the Church

ArmInfo. Christian Solidarity International (CSI) has joined with other  religious freedom advocates in calling on the Armenian government to end its persecution of the Armenian Church.

In a statement, the organizations and individuals express "grave  concern over the intensifying campaign by Armenian government against  the Armenian Apostolic Church and its supporters." The signatories  include NGOs Coptic Solidarity and SOS Chretiens d'Orient.

"Over the past few weeks, we have witnessed the apparently arbitrary  detention of senior members of the clergy and of prominent supporters  of the church, the expropriation of their property, and the use of  police force within sacred spaces, including the Mother See of the  Armenian Apostolic Church at Etchmiadzin," the statement continues.   Those detained include Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan, Archbishop  Bagrat Galstanyan and Russian- Armenian businessman Samvel  Karapetyan."

The statement also highlights the fact that the Prime Minister of  Armenia, Nikol Pashinyan, has called for the Catholicos of the church  to be removed and his replacement chosen by a government-organized  committee. Such an action would contravene Article 17 of Armenia's  constitution, which guarantees the separation of church and state.

The statement makes the following demands: Immediately and  unconditionally release Samvel Karapetyan, whose detention lacks any  legal foundation; release Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan and Archbishop  Bagrat Galstanyan, and conduct an independent and transparent review  of the charges against them; Cease all interference in the internal  affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including the ongoing  campaign to delegitimize its clergy and replace its leadership  through state-orchestrated mechanisms; terminate all forms of  retaliatory economic coercion, including politically motivated  expropriation, administrative harassment, and censorship of peaceful  public advocacy and restore the independence of the judiciary,  ensuring that Armenia's courts are no longer instrumentalized as  tools of political persecution or executive control.

"Acts of conscience, faith, and lawful dissent must not become  punishable acts in any nation that claims fidelity to democratic  values," the statement concludes.