Holy Etchmiadzin  responds  to pro-government media reports regarding  "wiretapping of Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan`s conversation"

ArmInfo.The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has responded to pro-government media reports regarding the "wiretapping of a telephone conversation between  Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan and the former holder of the  Catholicos' staff, Hieromonk Agan Yernjakyan,"  in October 2023.

The reports claim that the Catholicos coerced clergy into participating  in anti-government demonstrations. In response to media requests for  comment on the publication, the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin stated  that recordings of telephone conversations attributed to His Grace  Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan were distributed on news sites serving  the government.

Holy Etchmiadzin also stated that it was obvious who was behind this  act given the government's actions against the Church, including the  recent arrest of dozens of clergy and the detention of two clergy.  "  In these days, the entire law enforcement and judicial system  is  engaged in carrying out illegal anti-church instructions. The purpose  of circulating such expressions allegedly attributable to the  Catholicos of All Armenians is to discredit and incite enmity toward  the Church and  its clergy. The violation of the confidentiality of  telephone conversations is itself a crime and a separate topic to  which, we hope, the law enforcement bodies will give an appropriate  response," the Armenian Apostolic Church emphasized.

It is worth noting that the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia  has already responded to the information about the recording. In a  conversation with a newspaper owned by the Prime Minister of Armenia,  the Prosecutor General's Office reported that an investigation has  been launched. Human rights activists are certain that the purpose of  this recording is to pave the way for the arrest of the Catholicos.