The Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF) Supreme Body in Armenia has issued a statement urging the public “not to give in or take part” in Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s “plan to march on the Catholicosate.”
The ARF also called on law enforcement to “initiate criminal proceedings against Pashinyan and charge him as a suspect.”
“Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s statements and planned actions aimed at removing the Catholicos of All Armenians from the Catholicosate and stripping him of his office amount to preparation for serious and particularly serious crimes. These acts are intended to disrupt the normal functioning of the Mother See. His statements contain criminally punishable intentions, including holding the Catholicos hostage under threat or use of violence, forcing him to resign, inciting and organizing mass unrest.
We therefore appeal to the public not to fall for Pashinyan’s unconstitutional and illegal provocations, not to join his plan to march on the Catholicosate, and not to become complicit in criminally punishable acts such as hooliganism, mass riots, and other serious offenses.
We demand:
That the Prosecutor General and investigative bodies of Armenia initiate criminal proceedings against Nikol Pashinyan and charge him as a suspect.
That the police and National Security Service take all necessary measures to prevent the preparation of serious and particularly serious crimes by the head of Armenia’s executive branch and thereby avoid becoming accomplices in such large-scale illegality.
Dear compatriots, under Armenian criminal law, citizens who act to prevent ongoing or planned serious crimes are acting within the law. We appeal to our devout people: the Armenian Apostolic Church is a central pillar of Armenian identity, which has preserved our nation through centuries.
Thanks to the Church, our people have reached the 21st century and cannot tolerate the unlawful campaign led by Armenia’s Prime Minister against the Church, its leader, and clergy. We therefore urge our people to be ready to lawfully prevent the planned crime and defend the holiest of our holy sites—Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin,” the statement concludes.
During a press conference, when asked how he planned to “liberate” the Catholicosate, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said, “It will be liberated the same way Armenia was freed from Serzh Sargsyan in 2018.” He later called on the public to prepare for a “great spiritual gathering in Etchmiadzin’s central square.”
