Karapetyan pointed to attempts by the Armenian authorities to detain him.
Samvel Karapetyan, head of the Tashir Group of companies and philanthropist, said that the Armenian Interior Ministry wanted to detain him when they searched his house on June 17.
"They wanted to hold a mask show and detain me. And the people, the ordinary people who gathered in the courtyard, fought back," he said in an interview with RT.
Karapetyan also stated that the entire street where his house is located was blocked in Yerevan.
On the same day, it was reported that Karapetyan was being detained for speaking out in support of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). It was clarified that the Interior Ministry officers arrived at Karapetyan's house immediately after he made a statement in defense of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Later, the church called for an end to illegal actions against Karapetyan.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Russia would provide assistance to the head of the Tashir group of companies amid searches of his home. She stressed that Moscow is closely monitoring the situation around Karapetyan.
In May, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan began actively criticizing the Armenian Apostolic Church and accused Catholicos Garegin II, the first hierarch of the Armenian Apostolic Church, of violating celibacy, calling on him to leave office. The Supreme Spiritual Council of the Armenian Apostolic Church issued a statement saying that the Prime Minister had launched "another campaign" against the church, "putting himself above the law," with language and accusations "unbecoming of a statesman."
Karapetyan then stated that a "small group of people" had launched attacks on the Armenian Apostolic Church, forgetting the "thousand-year history" of the country. He added that he "has always been close to the Armenian Church" and promised to take a "direct part" in this situation.
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