RA Investigative Committee  press secretary responds to Galstanyan`s  lawyer`s statement  that  published recording was falsified and taken  out of context

ArmInfo.  The press secretary of the Chairman of Armenia's Investigative Committee (IC) has responded to statements made by the lawyer representing the accused in the case of the "Sacred Struggle" movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan - Hovhannes Khudoyan. Khudoyan claimed that the Investigative Committee has <falsified the recordings> and that <the idea of execution (shooting) was taken out of context>. <After the disclosure of facts  indicating that the leaders and participants of the<Sacred Struggle>   movement were preparing for terrorism and the seizure of power,  including relevant parts of recordings obtained legally, some  individuals involved in the process, instead of exercising their  rights under the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia  within the framework of criminal proceedings, chose to spread  disinformation on publicly available information platforms, thereby  clearly trying to influence public sentiment or opinion>,  Avdalyan  wrote on Facebook.

According to her, Hovhannes Khudoyan today published a statement  about his new <plans> to file civil lawsuits in court. In his  statement, among other things, he reiterated that <it has already  been proven that the Investigative Committee falsified the  recordings> and that <the idea of executing criminals with the death  penalty is taken out of context>. <Additionally, the lawyer continues  to voice the quoted thoughts, basically ignoring the explanations  that clearly deny the fact of falsification of the recordings>,  she  noted.  According to the representative of the Investigative  Committee, making such a statement publicly available and constantly  repeating one-sided judgments that the Investigative Committee has  allegedly falsified evidence and records indicates that it has  nothing to say about the content of the records not only to the  public, but also to the investigator.

<At the same time, we are sure that a lawyer convinced of the  falsification of evidence should have been held accountable and,  instead of futile attempts to irresponsibly bring such accusations  against members of the public, should have filed a statement about  the crime, assuming its legal consequences>,  Avdalyan pointed out.

In her opinion, <by spreading false information>, Hovhannes Khudoyan  has a hidden goal of drawing the Investigative Committee into a  dialogue outside of judicial procedures, with the goal of undermining  the unique and irreplaceable mass of evidence obtained during  criminal proceedings, which was obtained exclusively through legal  means within the established due legal procedures. <However, while  respecting the lawyer's decision to defend himself against criminal  charges through civil means, we once again clarify that evidence  obtained during criminal proceedings is reviewed in accordance with  the procedural order established by law, and statements made on  social networks about diminishing their evidentiary value cannot in  any way affect the value of this evidence in criminal proceedings.  Moreover, participants in the trial and the public will have the  opportunity at subsequent stages of the trial, including during  public hearings, not only to familiarize themselves with full  excerpts from the recordings, but also  other factual data confirming  the incriminated acts>, she concluded.