ArmInfo.At the October 25 meeting, the Government of Armenia issued a negative opinion on the draft laws submitted by a group of MPs from the Republican Party aimed at protecting the Armenian Apostolic Church and its leader.
In particular, the draft law "On Freedom of Meetings" proposes to prohibit holding meetings in the territory of the AAC, as well as to establish personal security for the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II.
However, as the Acting Minister of Justice Artak Zeynalyan noted, the inviolability of the church is guaranteed by another provision of the same law. In particular, rallies that incite religious hatred are prohibited. As for the protection for the Catholicos, then, according to the Acting Minister, by the decision of the Prime Minister, the state guard can be allocated to both the Catholicos and other religious leaders if they are in danger. This applies to representatives of other churches, including the Russian Orthodox and Armenian Catholic. "In this regard, there is no need for new security guarantees," Zeynalyan added.
With this agreed Acting Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan too, who noted that the Catholicos is not in danger today. "And if there is a threat, the state will be able to ensure its security in an appropriate manner", the Acting PrimeMinister said.
To recall, recently, protest rallies were held in Echmiadzin, the participants of which demanded the resignation of Karekin II, whom they consider to be an ally of the former authorities.