Daniel Ioannisyan, programs coordinator of the Union of Informed Citizens NGO, has expressed his belief that a recently leaked covert recording, allegedly featuring Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, was likely made by certain Armenian state institutions. His comments were reported by Aysor.am .
“I am not 100% certain. I have no more information than you at this point. But we’ve submitted a crime report regarding the incident, and it appears a case has been opened. The Prosecutor’s Office informed the media they are proceeding with it, though we haven’t received an official letter yet,” Ioannisyan stated.
He stressed the need for a thorough investigation: “Regardless of the justification, this is a case of illegality. Whether this was a court-approved recording later leaked, or an initially unlawful recording, I cannot say. But even if the recording was made legally, its dissemination is clearly illegal.”
Ioannisyan noted that Armenia’s Criminal Procedure Code requires swift action on crime reports, but in practice, such processes are often delayed and can take months.
“Decisions are often not immediate and may drag on for months. When we filed a report about Ter Aram (defrocked priest Stepan Asatryan) on September 17, we never received a formal response. We only learned from media reports on October 15 that any action had been taken,” he said.
On October 25, a Telegram channel named Armenian WikiLeaks published a personal video allegedly involving Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan. No state body has confirmed responsibility for the surveillance or leak so far.
