After a court hearing in the case of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and his supporters, security forces detained the priest’s lawyer, Alexander Kochubaev. The Investigative Committee cited a criminal case for the disclosure of defamatory information as the reason. The human rights activist believes the case against Kochubaev is politically motivated.
As reported by the “Caucasian Knot,” on June 25, security forces conducted more than 90 searches in connection with the investigation into the plot to seize power in Armenia. By court order, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the “Sacred Struggle” movement, and 14 others have been remanded in custody. A day earlier, on June 24, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that a coup had been prevented and published a document outlining the opposition’s alleged plan to remove him from power. On June 27, security forces detained Mikael Ajapayan (also referred to in the media as Mikael Ajapakhyan), the primate of the Shirak Diocese, who had voluntarily surrendered to the Investigative Committee. He was charged under Part 2 of Article 422 of the Criminal Code, which carries a prison sentence of two to five years. The archbishop denied the charge.
In 2024, Bagrat Galstanyan led the “Tavush for the Motherland” movement (later renamed “Sacred Struggle”), which protested the transfer of border territories to Azerbaijan. In May of that year, Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan participated in a protest march of residents of the Shirak region who demanded an end to the border delimitation.
Lawyer Alexander Kochubayev was detained after a court hearing in the case of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and his supporters, according to Novosti-Armenia.
“We noticed that masked men very roughly pulled someone out of a car. They put him in the car and took off. It turned out that it was Kochubayev’s car,” Melikyan told the publication.
“Such actions against a lawyer are absolutely unacceptable. This is a very serious challenge to lawyers. We demand respect for our profession. It is unacceptable to detain a person, and especially a lawyer, in this way. Obviously, this “political repression,” the lawyer emphasized.
Armenia: Lawyer defending political opponents of the government detained in Yerevan
