Daniel Ioannisian Has Taken on the Role of Justifying Government Violations: HAK

The authorities of the Republic of Armenia have violated the Constitution, while Daniel Ioannisian has taken on the role of justifying and concealing their violations. This was stated in a press release by the Legal Committee of the Armenian National Congress (ANC).

“On October 16, the ANC issued a statement condemning the new wave of repression against the Armenian Apostolic Church. Referring to the charges against Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan of the Aragatsotn Diocese, the ANC specifically noted that it was presented under a provision of the Criminal Code that was not in effect at the time of the alleged crime in 2021, as the new amendment containing that provision came into force on July 1, 2022. Therefore, assessing the act attributed to 2021 under the new amendment of the Criminal Code constitutes a gross violation of Article 72 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia.

Indeed, under Article 163 of the former Criminal Code, only "forcing participation in legal gatherings through violence or threats of violence" was criminalized (part 2). In Daniel Ioannisian's report of the alleged crime, no information regarding violence or threats of violence was presented. Therefore, it could not serve as a basis for the charges.

Moreover, the alleged act that served as the basis for the charges is the coercion to participate in gatherings (Article 236 part 3 of the new Criminal Code), which was criminalized only under the new amendment, thus it was not considered a crime in 2021 and could not serve as the basis for initiating a criminal case.

Thus, by presenting charges against Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan and those associated with him, the authorities have grossly violated Article 72 of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, while Daniel Ioannisian (who accused the Congress of supposedly failing to utilize the Arlis system) has taken on the roles of not only the “main informer-knife of the authorities” but also misleading our public and justifying and concealing the authorities’ violations.