Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and several of his associates arrested for 2 months

YEREVAN, June 26. /ARKA/. The leader of the protest movement "Sacred Struggle", Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan has been arrested by a court decision for 2 months. He is accused of plotting “terrorist acts” in a bid to seize power. His lawyer said that he intends to appeal the court's decision.

The Investigative Committee said in a statement Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan began plotting to violently overthrow the Armenian government last November with members of his opposition movement. The statement said they planned to kill unnamed “civilians,” carry out other violent actions, and paralyze the country’s security apparatus to that end.

Law enforcement officials also released what they described as wiretapped audio of Galstanyan and his accomplices. Voices attributed to them can be heard discussing plans to form dozens of small groups of men who would block streets, cut off electricity and internet connections, and create other disruptions to help the mob overthrow the government.

Several of the archbishop's associates, detained in the same criminal case, have also been arrested for two months.

They include former Artsakh parliament member David Galstyan, retired colonel Mihran Makhsudyan, Dashnaktsutyun party еmember Igor Sargsyan, Movses Sharbatyan (assistant to Archbishop Bagrat), blogger Armen Aleksanyan, activists Lidia Mantashyan, Aghvan Arshakyan, Ara Rostomyan. There are 16 people involved in the criminal case.

The main parliamentary opposition Hayastan Alliance issued a statement condemning the “illegal arrests and searches” and “fabricated charges.” It called on Armenians to “unite and prevent” Pashinyan from “silencing pockets of national resistance” to his rule.-0-