Tatoyan: Pashinyan ordered collection of personal data on Armenian church head

Former Human Rights Defender Arman Tatoyan has accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of instructing law enforcement agencies to collect personal data on Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II as well as other clergymen.

Speaking to reporters outside a Yerevan court, where a motion was being heard to detain Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan, Tatoyan cited accounts from participants of a recent meeting between Pashinyan and students at Yerevan State University (YSU). According to them, the prime minister announced that he had ordered special services to gather details concerning the private lives of senior clergy.

“Clearly, such information is being compiled for political use to be exploited at an opportune moment for leverage,” the ex-ombudsman asserted.

Tatoyan condemned the campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Church and its clergy as politically motivated.

"The entire process is driven by political motives. The prime minister is directing law enforcement through political orders. It is difficult to describe these developments as legal processes, they are entirely rooted in political expediency," he added.