Russia closely monitoring billionaire Samvel Karapetyan's arrest in Armenia, says Kremlin
Moscow/Yerevan, June 20 (UNI) Russia is closely monitoring the situation around Russian billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan's arrest in Armenia, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.
"Of course, we are following it. For us, he is a Russian citizen. We do not want to interfere in Armenia's internal affairs, but naturally, we closely monitor everything related to a Russian citizen," Peskov told reporters on the sidelines of the 2025 St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), reports TASS.
On Wednesday, a court in Yerevan arrested Karapetyan for two months on charges of public calls to seize power in Armenia, his lawyer Liana Gasparyan said.
Karapetyan, a Russian citizen of Armenian origin, has drawn scrutiny after expressing support for the Armenian Apostolic Church amid its tensions with the government of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.
Condemning the arrest, Moscow Patriarchate (another name for Russian Orthodox Church) representative, Vachtang Kipshidze told Sputnik 'The Armenian Apostolic Church is the most authoritative social force in Armenian life. Its freedom, independence, and internal autonomy are non-negotiable. Any attempt to undermine them is unacceptable.'
When defenders of faith and tradition like businessman and philanthropist Samvel Karapetyan are targeted, society risks trading stability for persecution, the Patriarchate warned.
The detention of Karapetyan – a vocal supporter of the Armenian church – is part of a broader campaign to silence voices standing with Armenia's spiritual foundations, claimed Kipshidze.
The Armenian Church in Moscow has also slammed the arrest, calling it shameful, and claimed that it was part of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's war with the Church, using fear tactics and repression to silence voices.
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Zaman said that the authorities 'showed a tendency to arrest petty criminals' for the Hanuman temple incident and not those who allegedly violated the cattle transportation law. The district is notorious for cattle smuggling to Bangladesh, where a cow fetches twice the average price of ₹30,000 in Assam. Some residents allege that the smugglers operate in nexus with a section of the district officials and the police, who, according to them, get a cut of up to 10%. Dhubri's Senior Superintendent of Police, Leena Doley, dismissed allegations that the police were refusing to arrest illegal cattle traders. 'We have rounded up a few, and the process is ongoing,' she said. She replaced Navin Singh, who was transferred out of Dhubri a week after the incident at the Hanuman temple. As many as 164 police personnel, including 34 sub-inspectors, were also transferred out of the district. 'The message has gone out that the government will not tolerate disturbance of any kind. 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'Investigations should be carried out against all those arrested for placing beef and parts of a cow in public places, including religious institutions, but those who put such ideas in the minds of miscreants should be probed too. Such incidents are part of the pre-election strategy of the BJP-RSS to hide their failures,' he said. Chief Minister Sarma retaliated, asking Gogoi to submit proof before accusing Hindus of fomenting trouble. 'If Hindus have to throw meat, they will throw pork, not beef,' he said. At Baluchar, the seeds of distrust between Hindus and Muslims, sown years ago, seem to have sprouted. Paresh Das, a trader, said, 'This was not the first time that go-mangsho (beef) was placed near the Hanuman temple. We know it will not be the last time, either. As the minority community, we have to tolerate this. We just hope that our sentiments are respected.' 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