Garegin II's brother was sent to pretrial detention for a month.

An Armenian court has remanded in custody Gevork Nersisyan, the brother of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, for a month on charges of obstructing election campaigning. His son, Hambardzum Nersisyan, faces similar charges.

"Caucasian Knot" reported that the brother and nephew of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, Gevork Nersisyan and Hambardzum Nersisyan, have been detained on charges of obstructing the election campaign and hooliganism.

68-year-old Gevork Nersisyan has been remanded in custody for one month, and investigators are also petitioning for the detention of his son, Hambardzum Nersisyan, the Armenpress news agency reported, citing the Investigative Committee of Armenia.

The court hearing to determine a preventive measure for Nersisyan Jr. continues. Both are charged under Article 211 of the Armenian Criminal Code for obstructing election campaigning. This article carries a sentence of up to three years in prison.

The charges are based on a publication by Harutyun Mkrtchyan, a candidate from the Republic Party in the enlarged Vagharshapat community. He stated that on November 1, Gevorg Nersisyan and his son obstructed election campaigning.

Lawyer Ara Zohrabyan posted a video on his social media page, which he claims confirms the falsity of the charges. The 2-minute, 37-second recording shows two people shaking hands on the street and talking for a while. A third person, arriving in a car, then approaches them and joins the conversation, after which they disperse. The recording shows no signs of conflict between the interlocutors.

"Hambartsum Nersesyan was standing in front of the gates of his home when a man approached him and invited him to participate in the Republic Party congress. Nersesyan refused, the man tried to persuade him, after which Gevorg Nersesyan approached. The three of them talked and peacefully dispersed," the lawyer described the incident.

The election campaign in Vagharshapat began on October 22 and will last until November 14, with the elections themselves scheduled for November 16.

The open confrontation between the Armenian authorities and church representatives has been ongoing for several months. Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan sharply criticized the church at a government meeting on May 29. On June 27, security forces detained the head of the Shirak Diocese, Mikael Ajapayan (also referred to in the media as Mikael Ajapakhyan), on charges of calling for the seizure of power; Ajapayan was later sentenced to two years in prison. In October, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, who is the nephew of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, and six clergymen, as well as several civilians, were detained in Armenia on suspicion of abuse of office to organize mass protests.