Political scientist slams church incident case as "legal absurdity"

ArmInfo. Political scientist Suren Surenyants has characterized the recent criminal proceedings following the incident at St. Anna Church as a "new stage of legal absurdity" in Armenia.

According to him, the criminal case brought against the young people  following the incident at St. Anne's Church raises many questions.  "The authorities claim that there was "interference in the lawful  official or political activity of an official". But here a  fundamental contradiction arises: was the prime minister carrying out  official or political activity in the church? According to the logic  of the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the church and the  state are separate. The church is not a platform for state  governance, and the exercise of state power is impossible there. If  there is no official activity taking place, what exactly did these  young people 'interfere' with? This is the key point where the entire  structure of the charges collapses," the political scientist  believes.

Furthermore, he continues, the charges brought are clearly  disproportionate and artificially inflated. By combining  "hooliganism" with "interference,"  the authorities are creating an  artificially aggravated charge designed to send a political message  rather than seek justice.

"This case sets a dangerous precedent. If any incident can be  presented as "interference in the activity of an official", then  tomorrow any dissent can be criminalized by the same logic. "If we  consider (the official's activities) in a church to be logical and  proportionate, then this means that expressing disagreement with the  prime minister anywhere, be it a church, a cafe, or a theater, can be  considered (interference). This is a legal absurdity and a dangerous  precedent," Surenyants wrote.