(MENAFN) Demonstrators took to the streets of Yerevan, the capital of Armenia, on Saturday, calling for the liberation of Russian-Armenian billionaire and vocal government critic Samvel Karapetyan.

The protest saw participation from the tycoon’s spouse and three children and was organized by the opposition group Mer Dzevov (Our Way).

Karapetyan was detained in June on allegations of fomenting a coup and money laundering.

The businessman had openly criticized Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s crackdown on the Armenian Apostolic Church’s clergy, whom the government accuses of corruption and interference in politics.

Speaking to the crowd outside Yerevan’s primary detention facility, Karapetyan’s attorney, Aram Vardevanyan, declared that his client is prepared to spearhead a new political party in the upcoming elections.

Strains between Pashinyan and Armenia’s national church escalated in 2020 when the church’s highest religious leader, Catholicos Garegin II, urged the prime minister to resign during widespread protests. Since then, Pashinyan has contended that Garegin is unsuitable for his role and should resign.

In recent developments this week, law enforcement officials arrested Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, leader of the Diocese of Aragatsotn, along with five other priests on accusations of abuse of authority and fraud.

Earlier this month, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan received a two-year prison sentence for allegedly inciting a coup—a charge he described as politically driven.

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