YEREVAN – On 4 June 2026, Armenia’s Criminal Court of Appeals replaced the pretrial detention of Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan with house arrest, following nearly one year of incarceration for the country’s most outspoken clergyman.
Galstanyan is the leader of the “Holy Struggle” movement, born from protests in 2024 in the northeastern province of Tavush, his former diocese, against unilateral land concessions by the government of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan to Azerbaijan.
Archbishop Galstanyan led a cross-country march of his supporters to the capital following the handover of key lands in Tavush to Azerbaijan. He arrived in Yerevan to a crowd of some 100,000 people – which rivaled the 2018 ‘Velvet Revolution’ gathering that catapulted Pashinyan to power.
The movement was suppressed within a month, however, with the clergyman retreating after police used stun grenades against his followers — including women, children and journalists.
Yet the protests demonstrated a simmering mass discontent in Armenia over Pashinyan’s agenda, and critically for the authorities, the charisma of Archbishop Galstanyan and enduring appeal of the Christian faith and national values.
Archbishop demands exoneration
Archbishop Galstanyan, at the time of his transfer to house arrest, had spent 344 days in a former KGB prison, during which time a delegation led by Christian Solidarity International visited him in detention.
He made clear he did not regard the ruling as vindication and continues to demand a full acquittal and an apology. Outside the courthouse, he was greeted by relatives and supporters.
Galstanyan was detained on 25 June 2025, when security forces carried out a series of raids targeting members of the Holy Struggle movement and allied and supportive opposition figures.
Armenian authorities accused the archbishop of preparing terrorist acts, organising mass unrest and attempting to seize power, alleging the preparations began in late 2024, after his campaign demanding Pashinyan’s resignation.
However, the Armenian Center for Political Rights published a lengthy investigation exposing how investigators fabricated evidence by cutting and pasting together unrelated surveillance recordings, to incriminate Galstanyan by presenting a false picture of his conversations.
Galstanyan’s lawyers have maintained that the criminal prosecution is politically motivated and have repeatedly called for his release.
The ruling means he remains under judicial restriction while proceedings continue.
