Religious freedom is under attack in the world's oldest Christian country, a new major report on civil strife in Armenia has warned.
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan has been accused of acting like a dictator and launching a ferocious attack on the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church (AAHC), dating back to 301AD.
According to the report, Mr Pashinyan has sought to overthrow its leader Catholicos Karekin II and has jailed its leading clerics and parishioners.
One archbishop, Mikayel Ajapahyan, is serving a two-year sentence for criticising the government.
Businessman Samvel Karapetyan has also been imprisoned for speaking out in defence of the Church.
His assets have been seized, including the country's electricity supply company.
Karapetyan has been held in pre-trial detention since the summer in a notorious Soviet-era jail in Yerevan.
Vice Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Religious Freedom Lord Jackson of Peterborough said: "The idea of committed Christians in the world's oldest Christian country, and in civilised and modern Europe, thrown into jail for defending their faith is frightening".
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan with Donald Trump
|PA
"Christian denominations in Armenia should be able to retain the right to congregate and worship in peace without the threat of violent intimidation and imprisonment or worse," he said.
"The world is watching for human rights abuses committed against these embattled Christian communities."
A detailed report from the international law firm Amsterdam & Partners has accused Mr Pashinyan of acting like a dictator in his bid to cling to power in elections next year.
The report points out that while Mr Pashinyan’s popularity has plummeted in recent years, the AAHC continues to enjoy massive popular support with 97.5 per cent of the three million population of Armenia claiming membership of the Church and with a trust rating of nearly 60 per cent.
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The report states: “The AAHC and Samvel Karapetyan are merely the latest victims of this dictatorial rule. To explicitly target high ranking members of a national church, and its supporters, with vexatious, ill-founded and politically motivated prosecutions to silence criticism and exert control, is an act of an unpopular and politically inept regime, clinging to power through whatever means necessary.
“However, this is not a new phenomenon. The reality is that the Armenian government is simply reverting to what is in fact a well-established pattern of political prosecutions as a means of exerting control and administering punishment.
It further states that "the target is a highly trusted religious institution and its supporters".
"With parliamentary elections taking place in June 2026, it appears that Pashinyan is leaving no room to chance in his desperate desire to cling to power," the report states.
Lord Jackson of Peterborough said the situation was 'frightening'
| PAThe clash between Church and the Armenian state originated in the country's defeat in the 2023 war with Azerbaijan over the enclave of Nagorno-Karabakh.
More than 100,000 Armenians were forced to flee to safety.
“The Church has fulfilled its exclusive mission by vigorously defending the rights of Armenians forced out of Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as the preservation of their national identity. This has put the AAHC on a collision course with the Prime Minister, who has been widely criticised at home and abroad for his role in failing to defend Nagorno-Karabakh,” the report concludes.
The Church and other influential institutions have condemned Mr Pashinyan's failure to defend its territory and protect its citizens.
The World Council of Churches and Christian Solidarity International have spoken out against Mr Pashinyan’s crackdown on the AAHC.
"Having failed to prevent the ethnic cleansing of Nagorno- Karabakh in 2023, Nikol Pashinyan, Armenia’s Prime Minister since 2018, is persecuting those who criticise his leadership and rule," the report said.
“Pashinyan has made it his personal mission to overthrow His Holiness Catholicos Karekin II, launching an extraordinary series of online attacks on the present leader of the Church.
“The Prime Minister has also orchestrated the arrest of Samvel Karapetyan, and the seizure of his business interests, after the philanthropist made a brief public statement in defence of the Church on 17 June 2025.
“Meanwhile, Bishops and parishioners have also been arrested, as part of the Prime Minister’s campaign to harass and subdue the Church."
Regional expert and journalist Alison Meuse said the Church "has not faced such an existential threat since the harshest years of the Soviet purges and consolidation of power".
"History in Armenia appears to be repeating itself," she added.