The Prime Minister Has No Right to Access Information on Wiretaps, Tatoyan

The initiation of criminal proceedings against the Supreme Patriarch or the pursuit of such actions is part of a scenario drawn up by the authorities for political purposes. This was stated by the former Human Rights Defender and leader of the 'Wings of Unity' initiative, Arman Tatoyan.

He raised the question of how wiretapping related to incidents involving clergy from years ago could end up in the hands of government media. 'In other words, we have authorities that use law enforcement bodies for narrow political interests, or are they themselves illegally wiretapping and keeping them for years to use them for political purposes at their convenience? It turns out that this is exactly the case,' wrote Tatoyan.

He emphasized how government media outlets (the official newspaper of the ruling Civil Contract Party, as well as media outlets owned by the Prime Minister’s family and, according to numerous public sources, the Deputy Chief of Staff) disseminated the recordings and then 'very conveniently' law enforcement agencies appeared and took the propaganda materials from government media for examination.

Tatoyan stated that the Prime Minister has no right to receive information about citizens' private lives or wiretaps from operational investigative, law enforcement bodies, or courts; he does not have access to such data. Moreover, the confidentiality of such information is protected from the Prime Minister.

'The Prime Minister does not have the right to be transmitted operational investigative materials, including recordings. These are requirements of the law currently in force in Armenia, the Constitution, and international direct requirements, not just my opinion, and their purpose is to protect criminal prosecution and operational investigative activities from any political influence, especially from the Prime Minister, even though they are appointed by him in a prohibited manner,' highlighted Tatoyan.

According to Tatoyan, instead of resolving the country's numerous issues, enormous resources and considerable efforts of law enforcement are directed towards illegal actions that weaken the state and undermine national resilience, which are acts of revenge with narrow political interests primarily stemming from Azerbaijani demands.

The former Human Rights Defender considers this approach by the authorities a gift to the Azerbaijani government for its aggressive plans, which discredits the Armenian nation globally and insults national values. Tatoyan pointed out that even if there are issues within the church, they should not be resolved in such a manner that again leads society down the path of division and deepening hatred.