Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan detained

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the leader of the Holy Struggle movement, was detained amid a sweeping campaign of home raids targeting opposition figures under the pretext of a so-called “coup plot” on Wednesday.

His residence was surrounded by masked NSS officers who conducted a search while barring MPs Artur Sargsyan and Garnik Danielyan from entering it. Following the raid, Galstanyan was taken into custody.

Prior to the arrest, officers were seen removing several items from his residence, including bags filled with papers, a loudspeaker and other unspecified objects.

“You villain, listen carefully, whatever you’re plotting will fail. Your time is running out,” the archbishop said, addressing Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.