PACE publishes distorted facts about elections in Armenia and ignores the authorities’ campaign against the Church: Robert Amsterdam

“I consider it shameful that PACE representatives, who present themselves as independent defenders of democracy, come to Armenia and publish grossly distorted facts.” This was stated by Robert Amsterdam, international attorney for Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the Strong Armenia party, in a live broadcast on Facebook, commenting on PACE’s statement regarding the pre-election situation in Armenia.

According to him, the one-sided nature of PACE’s assessment raises serious concerns about the organization’s credibility in connection with the upcoming elections and the rule of law.

Amsterdam also addressed accusations concerning the Armenian Apostolic Church.

“The authors of the report ignore the Pashinyan government’s months-long campaign aimed at destroying the Church, removing the Patriarch, and carrying out unlawful arrests of clergy. They remain silent about the use of state resources for political purposes not only by Pashinyan, but also by his Azerbaijani patrons,” the attorney noted.

He added that Pashinyan is attempting to drag the Church into his election platform, pushing the situation to the point where those voting for him are made to feel as though they are voting against the Church.