Armenia’s democracy is at risk because Western governments are more interested in pulling the country out of the pro-Russia camp than opposing prime minister Nikol Pashinyan’s autocratic efforts to unfairly tilt the electoral playing field in his favor. https://t.co/nGJvDaDuQx
Court Orders Two-Month Pre-Trial Detention for Artsakh Armenian Figure Who Confronted Pashinyan
A court has ordered two-month pre-trial detention for Artur Osipyan, an Artsakh Armenian political figure and chairman of the Artsakh Revolutionary Party, days after his public confrontation with Nikol Pashinyan on May 18.
Osipyan had challenged Pashinyan over Artsakh, the war, and the handling of the Artsakh issue. The exchange quickly escalated, with Pashinyan lashing out at Osipyan and telling him he should have died instead of Armenian soldiers.
“You should have gone and died in place of our boys,” Pashinyan said, before adding: “Why are you alive? Why didn’t you die, you scum?”
The court’s decision to place Osipyan in pre-trial detention turns the May 18 confrontation into a broader political case, deepening concerns over the treatment of Artsakh Armenians and citizens who publicly challenge Pashinyan.
Osipyan’s two-month detention has intensified backlash over Pashinyan’s conduct, his targeting of Artsakh Armenians, and the use of law enforcement and courts against those who confront him publicly and his political opponents.
#ArmVote26
@301arm@CanbackRasmus Europas demokratiska kandidat. Nej tack säger vi! Vi vill int ha detta bottenskrap som EU så gärna vill hålla kvar vid makten. Aldrig har Armenien varit så odemokratisk som under de senaste 8 åren!!!
@CanbackRasmus@NikolPashinyan Man borde också skriva om hur Europa försöker påverka valen i Armenien och vill att Pashinyan ska sitta kvar. Det är lätt att skylla allt på Ryssland, men EU är inte bättre. Många vill inte ha kvar de "ledare" som styr landet idag. #handsoffArmenia#FreedomToArmenia
Mr. Vice President @JDVance,
I greet you in the name of our crucified and risen Lord, Jesus Christ.
I do so from Yerevan Kentron Prison in Armenia, as a political prisoner.
Using the time-honored methods of his communist predecessors, Pashinyan has incarcerated me.
@VP Peace is made by justice. Freedom to all Armenian Hostages illegally held in Baku. Return of 120000 Armenians to their indigenous Christian land, Artsakh.
Telling Armenians to “move past the past” isn’t peacemaking. It is moral abdication. You don’t build peace by erasing genocide, excusing ethnic cleansing, or ignoring ongoing threats. Justice isn’t backward-looking, it’s the foundation of any real future.
Second statement from prison by Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan and Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan
"The scandal staged after the statement published on November 27, as well as the subsequent developments, compel us to make the following statements with deep sorrow:
a) 10 out of 57 members of the episcopal college of the Mother See have officially announced that they no longer wish to be part of our brotherhood, therefore we recognize them as strangers and strangers, towards whom, unfortunately, we have had brotherly feelings for 20 to 40 years, which we have repeatedly proven with deeds and words. The decision was yours - do not blame us....
b) What has been done is a highly insidious and treasonous betrayal, conspiratorial and vile, which is repugnant even to laypeople, let alone high-ranking clergy. They could have done everything openly, in church instances, expressing their dissatisfaction and demands, even presenting an ultimatum to His Holiness the Patriarch, but they preferred to act secretly and covertly, as ordinary conspirators.
c) Each of them, before our eyes and in our presence, did not miss the opportunity and the opportunity to fawn over and flatter His Holiness the Patriarch, enjoying his paternal care they received the highest titles and positions in the church, being absolutely unworthy of the position they occupy, of which their shameful behavior is a telling testimony. If His Holiness made a mistake in anything, it was in fact his trust in them, taking upon himself the numerous and various sins they committed, keeping them under his paternal care.
d) At least 6 of the betrayers participated in the 1999 National Church Assembly and openly voted for the current Patriarch, which they have proudly announced for 26 years, not forgetting to mock those clergy who, while not participating in the election, have ever expressed their positive views towards other candidates in the field.
e) The other 4 bishops, from their student years to their priesthood and episcopate, enjoyed the care of the Patriarch, thanks to which they achieved promotion at the hands of the same Patriarch, receiving episcopal consecration and ordination. This speaks volumes about their character.
f) It is possible and perhaps necessary to disagree with His Holiness the Patriarch in everything, something which they have never done in the past 26 years and, on the contrary, have crawled in front of him, while we have done it many times, subjecting ourselves to the Patriarch's rebuke and discontent. After 26 years of continuous coquetry, to crawl headlong before disrespectful and treasonous rulers in order to save their skin from something and to defend some vague "principles" with the number one unprincipled person in the country is self-destruction. Truly, like finds like, treason - treason, Judas - Nikolakans
g) The betrayers of the Catholicos have created a situation that is unprecedented in the Armenian Church, even in the last 200 years. Therefore, an unprecedented response and reaction is necessary... a crooked path, a crooked path, as popular wisdom says.
We ask and propose to His Holiness the Patriarch:
1. End the tenure of divisive and disobedient leaders who have already passed their sentence by their behavior.
2. Immediately appoint new leaders in the given dioceses.
3. Call a meeting of bishops, ensuring the participation of us three bishops, or do so after our release.
4. After the Episcopal Conference, it will be possible to convene the National Church Conference.
We appeal to the priests of these dioceses: you are obliged to no longer obey your schismatic leaders and to declare your allegiance to His Holiness the Patriarch and obey His Holiness's instructions.
h/ And finally, we want to express hope that some of the traitors will follow the path of Peter and, with bitter tears, will try to remain clergymen with repentance, while the fate of Judas awaits the others.
Priests and people, remain devoted to our Holy Church and faithful to the anointed Patriarch of the Armenians. This is a time of trial and testing for all of us. The evil one roars to devour each one of us and all of us together.
“They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.” (1 John 2:12).
“Be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord, rejoice in hope, endure in tribulation, pray continually...Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:11-13, 21).
P.S. God forbid that one day it will be revealed that the traitors also played a role in our and the imprisonment of the Archbishop Mkrtich , which there is every reason to suspect.
November 30, 2025
https://t.co/1oUltTk17N
Armenians want peace
Erasing Nagorno Karabakh is NOT peace
Normalizing ethnic-cleansing is NOT peace
Abandoning Christian holy sites is NOT peace
Forsaking Armenian hostages/POWs is NOT peace
Accepting Azeri occupation of Armenia is NOT peace
Peace at gunpoint is NOT peace
MEPs have brought a 'motion of censure' against the Commission, triggering a vote next week (Thu 10th, noon) on whether to give #FrauGenocide the sack.
Write to your MEPs NOW and urge them to seize this opportunity and send her back to Germany.
And then one day, the Hague.