Robert Amsterdam urges EU to reconsider financial support to Armenian government

(Horizon Weekly) – Prominent international lawyer and human rights advocate Robert Amsterdam called on the European Union to reevaluate its financial assistance to the Armenian government, arguing that the leadership lacked legitimacy. In a message posted on his official Facebook page, Amsterdam condemned Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s administration for what he described as the unlawful imprisonment of “Christian political prisoner Samvel Karapetyan” and for “attacks against the Armenian Apostolic Church, the country’s largest religious institution.”

He wrote: “The EU must immediately halt its financial support to the Armenian government and initiate consultations on stopping the authorities’ unlawful actions. Do not fund a government that lacks legitimacy.”

Amsterdam said his legal team had completed an extensive report addressed to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the Council of Europe, EU institutions, and other international organizations committed to justice. Their objective, he stated, was “to expose the authorities’ blatant deviation from the rule of law and political neutrality, which gravely undermines the democratic foundations of the country.” The report asserted that the case against Karapetyan was “fabricated” and “a clear example of how legal norms and fundamental rights are blatantly disregarded to silence dissent. This is a direct attack on anyone who dares to stand with the Church.”

In recent weeks, Amsterdam sharply criticized what he called “telephone justice” in Armenia. He pointed to a media outlet linked to the prime minister’s family that published the extension of Karapetyan’s detention hours before any court had formally issued a ruling, which he argued illustrated direct political interference in the judicial process. His team further noted that Karapetyan had remained in pretrial detention without credible evidence, presenting this as another example of detention being used as a punitive tool rather than a lawful judicial measure.

Amsterdam also described what he considered economic pressure directed at Karapetyan’s business interests, including the cancellation of the operating license of Electric Networks of Armenia, despite an interim order from the Stockholm Arbitration Institute instructing authorities not to take such action.

Amsterdam maintained that his team would continue to use all available international legal instruments to challenge what he characterized as unlawful conduct by the Armenian government.