Pashinian reacted furiously to the criticism voiced on Tuesday, pledging to “deactivate” Karapetian and the top clergy in a series of social media posts.
“Now I will interfere with you in my own way, you scoundrel,” he wrote hours before Karapetian was arrested and charged with calling for a violent overthrow of the Armenian government.
A court in Yerevan sanctioned the pre-trial arrest late on Wednesday despite Karapetian’s strong denials of the accusation. His lawyers appealed against the “illegal” decision on Thursday.
Critics say Pashinian broke the law by publicly promising and ordering the crackdown. Anna Grigorian, a lawmaker from the main opposition Hayastan alliance, decried what she called “Facebook justice” during a session of the Armenian parliament attended by Pashinian.
“Samvel Karapetyan’s arrest is a manifestation of Nikol Pashinian's fears,” Grigorian said in a speech interrupted by angry shouts by some pro-government lawmakers.
“Why is Samvel Karapetyan now under arrest under this government and why is Ruben Vardanyan under arrest under the Aliyev regime [in Azerbaijan?] … Because you [and Aliyev] both hate the Armenian people and Armenian statehood,” she charged.
Robert Kocharian, a former Armenian president and Hayastan’s top leader, also condemned Karapetian’s “shameful” arrest, saying that the Armenian-born tycoon is prosecuted for speaking out against Pashinian’s efforts to depose Catholicos Garegin II and other senior clerics.
“The only way out of this shameful situation is a change of government,” Kocharian said in a statement. “Otherwise we will quickly slide towards total dictatorship, with unpredictable consequences for our statehood.”
The church’s Mother See in Echmiadzin has also denounced the “illegal actions” against Karapetian. Several bishops were among hundreds of people who rallied outside the court on Wednesday in support of him. Hayk Konjorian, the parliamentary leader of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, accused the church of “pressuring and attacking the judiciary.”
The accusation levelled against Karapetian stems from his comments made in Echmiadzin on Tuesday. He accused Pashinian of “attacking” not only the ancient church but also the Armenian people.
“Since I have always been on the side of the Armenian Church and the Armenian people, I will have direct participation,” he told News.am. “If politicians fail, then we will also participate in all of this in our own way.”
Armenian law-enforcement authorities say the remarks amounted to a call for violent regime change, a claim shrugged off by Karapetian’s lawyers.
Karapetian, 59, was born and raised in Armenia and moved to Russia in the early 1990s. The bulk of his business assets estimated by the Forbes magazine at $4 billion are located in Russia.