By Robert Zargarian and Susan Badalian
YEREVAN (Azatutyun) — Dozens of men believed to be law-enforcement officers manhandled journalists outside Armenia’s main cathedral late on Thursday, December 18, as they escorted renegade clerics who were met with a furious reception from thousands of people demonstrating in support of Catholicos Karekin II.
Armenian law-enforcement authorities reported on December 19 no inquiries into their violent conduct. Critics said, meanwhile, that the size of the security detail only proves that the ten archbishops and bishops demanding Karekin’s resignation acted on Pashinyan’s orders when they urged supporters to converge on the Echmiadzin cathedral to help them “liberate” the Mother See of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The Mother See responded by scheduling a special prayer service there at the same time. For their part, Armenian opposition leaders and other prominent critics of the government urged supporters to join them in scuttling what they called an attack on Karekin’s headquarters ordered by Pashinyan.
Thousands of believers heeded the opposition appeal, outnumbering other demonstrators, including local government officials and ruling party members, backing Pashinyan’s efforts to depose the supreme head of the church. Hundreds of riot police were deployed around the cathedral to separate the rival groups.
The police failed to prevent a group of government loyalists from trying to burst into the cathedral at the end of the service led by Karekin. They were pushed back by priests and laymen supporting Karekin. One of the priests suffered a heart attack in the melee and was rushed to the hospital.
