The European Union has been accused of ignoring alleged persecution of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
The claim has been made by opposition figure Samvel Karapetyan, a businessman and Russian national who was detained before being placed under house arrest.
He has begun legal action against the EU through the law firm Amsterdam & Partners LLP.
Since Nikol Pashinyan became Armenia's prime minister in 2018, his government has clashed with the Armenian Apostolic Church, with tensions worsening after Armenia's defeat in the 2020 Nagorno-Karabakh war, a decades-long territorial conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
Since then, four bishops have reportedly been imprisoned in pre-trial detention: Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, leader of the "Sacred Struggle" opposition movement, who was arrested on coup-plotting charges; Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, who was sentenced to two years in prison for allegedly calling for the government's overthrow; and Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan and Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan.
In addition, the Church's leader, Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, was barred from leaving the country in February 2026 as part of a criminal investigation. However, an Armenian court overturned the travel ban on 13 April this year.
Prime Minister Pashinyan has said he is protecting the Church from what he describes as "anti-Christian" and "anti-state" elements.
Karapetyan has accused Brussels of portraying Pashinyan's government as a "democratic success story" while ignoring what he describes as a crackdown on the Church and opposition figures.
Quoted by Christian Today, Robert Amsterdam, managing partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, said: "The European Union has not acted as a neutral observer. It has chosen to align itself with a government that has overseen widespread arrests, targeted its critics, attacked the Church and weakened democratic safeguards.
"Brussels cannot claim to be a defender of democracy while ignoring these abuses and refusing to engage seriously with opposition voices. The EU's actions have helped shield this government from accountability."
The EU has rejected the claims. In response to the legal action, a spokesperson pointed to the findings of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and its Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), which observed Armenia's elections.
The spokesperson said the election observation mission concluded that the elections "offered voters a genuine choice among political alternatives in a well-run process" and that the legal framework provided a "sound basis for democratic elections".
The Armenian Apostolic Church is one of the world's oldest Christian institutions, tracing its roots back nearly 1,700 years, and remains deeply woven into Armenia's national identity.