The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin strongly condemns the detention Thursday of its chancellor, Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, on “fabricated and baseless” charges, as well as the arrest imposed on him by the court, the Mother See announced in a statement it released Friday.

The statement adds as follows: “This action is an expression of the wave of repressions unleashed in recent times against the [Armenian Apostolic] Church and a continuation of the process of political persecution against the clergy.

Arresting high-ranking clergymen on trumped-up charges is yet another manifestation of the [incumbent Armenian] authorities’ church-persecuting policy and hate speech directed against the clergy.

The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin demands to immediate terminate the unlawful persecutions of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan and the other clergymen who have been deprived of their liberty, and to restore their violated rights.”