Overview

• The Investigative Committee confirmed clergy were taken into custody and said procedural steps are underway under a statute on coercing or incentivizing participation in assemblies.
• Defense lawyers said eight church figures from the Aragatsotn Diocese, including Bishop Mkrtich (Hayk) Proshyan, were detained after searches at their homes and the diocesan residence.
• Attorneys reported they were barred for hours from the committee’s Yerevan office, and they said the bishop’s whereabouts and those of several others remain unknown to the defense.
• Some of those brought to the committee are being treated as witnesses and refused to testify, a defense lawyer said, while officials have not disclosed the total number and promised a further statement.
• The inquiry followed Father Aram Asatryan’s September TV claim of being compelled to join 2021 rallies, and opposition figures portray the latest actions as politically driven against the church, citing earlier cases involving Archbishops Mikael and Bagrat.