ARF: Pashinyan`s statements and planned actions to remove the  Catholicos are preparations for committing grave and especially grave  crimes

ArmInfo. The Supreme Body of the ARF Dashnaktsutyun in Armenia has urged the country's law enforcement agencies to respond to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's  statements and planned actions  to remove Catholicos of All Armenians  Karekin II from the throne, as they contain elements of a crime.

The ARF noted that Pashinyan's statements and planned actions to  remove the Catholicos of All Armenians are preparations for  committing grave and especially grave crimes.

"Specifically, these actions will obstruct the normal functioning of  the Mother See of Etchmiadzin. These calls include taking the  Catholicos of All Armenians hostage, pressuring him to resign,  inciting mass riots and organizing criminal acts under the threat of  violence," the ARF noted. In this regard, the Dashnak party called on  the public "to resist the unconstitutional and illegal provocations  of Nikol Pashinyan, to refdrain from participating in his plan to  attack the Supreme Patriarchate, not to become participants in  hooliganism, mass riots and other serious crimes punishable by law." 

"Additionally, we demand that the Prosecutor General of Armenia and  investigative bodies launch a criminal case against Nikol Pashinyan  and hold him accountable. We urge the police and the National  Security Service prevent the preparation of grave and especially  grave crimes by the country's  head of the executive power of the  Republic, and not to be complicit  in such a large-scale  lawlessness," the statement of the ARF Supreme Body continues.

The political force recalled that, according to Armenia's criminal  legislation, citizens who act to prevent the preparation or  commission of grave crimes are acting in accordance with the laws of  the Republic of Armenia.

"The Armenian Apostolic Holy Church is the fundamental pillar of  Armenian identity, having preserved our people for centuries. Our  people, who have made it to the 21st century thanks to the Armenian  Church, cannot stand by while the Prime Minister of Armenia  launches  an illegal campaign of against the Church, its Patriarch and the  clergy. Therefore we urge our people to be ready to prevent this  impending crime through legal means and to protect our sanctuary -  the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin," the ARF concluded.