“It is obvious that such a prolonged, groundless and illegal detention of Samvel Karapetian must be terminated by the Prosecutor,” one of them, Aram Vartevanian, said in a social media post.
Karapetian was prosecuted hours after condemning on June 17 Pashinian’s attempts to depose the top clergy of the Armenian Church and vowing to defend it “in our own way.” His statement immediately provoked a series of furious social media posts by Pashinian.
“Now I will interfere with you in my own way, you scoundrel,” the premier wrote before the tycoon was arrested and charged with calling for a violent overthrow of the Armenian government.
Karapetian was also charged him with tax evasion, fraud and money laundering two weeks ago after announcing plans to set up a new opposition group that will fight for regime change in Armenia. He rejects the accusations levelled against him as politically motivated.
The office of Prosecutor-General Anna Vardapetian confirmed that it received the latest petition from the jailed tycoon’s lawyer. It did not say how it will respond to the demand.
Vardapetian, who previously worked as Pashinian’s legal adviser, is regularly accused by government critics of executing the premier’s orders. They say Pashinian exposed this fact with his Facebook posts that preceded Karapetian’s arrest.
Pashinian has also used the social media platform to insult high-ranking clergymen, notably Catholicos Garegin II, and pledge to oust them for alleged violations of their vows of celibacy. On June 9, he said he will set up a body tasked with deposing the supreme head of the Armenian Church.
Opposition and public figures called the move unconstitutional, arguing that the church is legally separated from the state. Earlier this month, two of them sent separate “crime reports” to Vardapetian accusing Pashinian of abusing his powers, overthrowing the constitutional order, spreading hate speech and violating religious freedom.
It emerged on Monday that the prosecutors rejected one of those petitions submitted by Avetik Chalabian, the leader of the opposition Hayakve movement. They said that the anti-church statements made by Pashinian and his loyalists do not constitute criminal offenses. Chalabian said he will challenge the decision in court.
“We live in a dictatorship where law-enforcement bodies have been usurped by the ruling political regime,” he told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service.
Vardapetian earlier personally defended separate accusations levelled against two outspoken archbishops who were also arrested in June. She denied any political motives behind them.