An Armenian appeals court has ordered the release of a junior cleric detained alongside Archbishop Bagrat Galstyan and 13 of his supporters on disputed coup charges that opposition groups insist are politically motivated.
Deacon Hrayr Hakobyan was arrested on June 25 together with Galstyan, a leading voice behind last year’s mass anti-government demonstrations in Yerevan. Authorities accuse the archbishop and his allies of plotting “terrorist acts” in an alleged attempt to overthrow Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration. Opposition lawmaker Artur Sargsyan was later charged on similar grounds.
Lower courts initially approved all 14 arrests despite fierce criticism from opposition figures, who see the case as another example of Pashinyan’s government using the judiciary to silence dissent. Lawyers representing the detainees appealed the rulings, arguing that the accusations lacked evidence and were based on political vendettas rather than facts.
On Tuesday, Appeals Court Judge Vazgen Rshtuni overturned the decision to keep Hakobyan in pre-trial detention and ordered his immediate release under “administrative surveillance,” which imposes restrictions on his political activities and freedom of movement.
The ruling was welcomed by opposition circles but provoked outrage from pro-government politicians. Civil Contract lawmaker Arman Yeghoyan accused Hakobyan of conspiring to assassinate Pashinyan and claimed he should have remained behind bars.
Judge Rshtuni dismissed those claims, stating in comments to the newspaper Hraparak that the case files contained “no factual information” proving that Hakobyan intended to kill government officials.
Investigators have based much of their case on a wiretapped conversation in which Hakobyan allegedly remarked that he “would not be upset” if Pashinyan were killed. Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetyan cited this as proof of a broader assassination plot supposedly orchestrated by Galstyan’s circle. Yet, no murder-related charges have been brought against any of the defendants, raising further questions about the credibility of the allegations.
Hakobyan’s lawyer, Hovsep Sargsyan, said on Wednesday that the supposed assassination plans were never mentioned in the arrest petitions submitted to either the Court of Appeals or the lower court. He argued that the furious reaction from government officials is a deliberate attempt to intimidate other judges and discourage them from granting similar releases to Galstyan’s remaining imprisoned supporters.
