Lawyer: Nowadays, any political process in Armenia is accompanied by  interference from the state apparatus

ArmInfo.  Initially, the legitimate actions of the opposition were secretly wiretapped by law enforcement officers because any political process in Armenia is now subject to  direct interference from the state apparatus, as stated by Hovhannes  Khudoyan, lawyer for the leader of the Sacred Struggle movement,  Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, during a press conference in Yerevan on  July 9, in reference  to the detentions of opposition figures in the  country.

He emphasized that similar illegal actions and interferences were  observed during the 2021 elections and later during other electoral  processes, when all opposition figures were also wiretapped. The  lawyer pointed out that in the current case of "an attempt to  overthrow the constitutional order" against the movement's  supporters, the National Security Service, allegedly having  sufficient information about the preparation of the crime, submitted  a report back in March. However, according to Khudoyan, the actual  actions occurred only in July, indicating that they were not a result  of criminal procedural measures, but rather an attempt to interfere  in political processes or incite them.

Khudoyan also drew attention to the fact that only fragments of the  wiretapping recordings taken out of context and supposedly important,  were published, while the missing parts of the dialogue, crucial for  understanding  the real content of the conversation, were not  included. In this regard, the lawyer questioned why the full  recordings were not made public and why the omitted fragments were  kept hidden if they did not contain any significant information.  "After reviewing the materials provided to us and comparing them with  the published recordings, it becomes clear that  not only were  sentences taken out of context, but also sentences were pieced  together from completely different fragments, some even recorded on  different days," the lawyer clarified.

He pointed out the need to publish the full recordings to ensure  equal conditions for all parties. In his opinion, this would allow  society to see the true picture of the situation and identify  manipulations with information. Khudoyan also noted that the  recordings discuss preparations for street fighting. At the same  time, an attempt is made to present these actions of the movement as  "terrorism", instead of using more neutral terms, for example,  "damage to property."

"The only purpose of this is a political motive. These days, the  connections between different elements are becoming increasingly  obvious," the lawyer noted. The human rights activist stated that  even if the Investigative Committee has launched an investigation and  uncovered a crime, such actions should not be accompanied by  political statements.  Khudoyan emphasized that a significant portion  of the published recordings are not related to legal processes and  contain political motivations that are consistently used by  representatives of various political forces. "These, excuse my words,  are very well-fed political theses, on which all political activity  has been based in recent months," the human rights activist  emphasized.

The lawyer explained that his arguments regarding law enforcement  agencies being involved in political processes are based on the fact  that they are actively working to refute all statements made by the  defense.  However, according to him, when disinformation is spread by  authorities, such as in the National Assembly, law enforcement  officers do not voice any counterarguments. "This is how they fuel  the aggression that is currently being directed against the Armenian  Apostolic Church (AAC) and those who stand up for it or take actions  in this regard," Khudoyan is sure.

According to the lawyer, the goal is to detain anyone who may pose a  threat to the authorities. He noted that these actions will likely be  long-term and aimed at eliminating all sources of confrontation. In  conclusion, the lawyer stated that everything he said confirms the  existence of a conspiracy between law enforcement agencies and the  authorities to persecute opposition figures. He also emphasized that  more serious processes should be expected in the near future,  clarifying that there are talks  about a document  to be signed with  Azerbaijan at the end of July, and an attempt is likely being made to  weaken all forces, including public ones, that could resist this.