Ombudsman's Office Probes Armenian Clergy Detentions

The rapid response team of the Human Rights Defender's Office of Armenia has gone to the Investigative Committee to get acquainted on the spot with the state of protection of the rights of the detained clergymen and the grounds for their deprivation of liberty. This is reported by the HRD office.

On October 15, a group of clergymen of the Armenian Apostolic Church, including the primate of the Aragatsotn diocese, were taken to the Investigative Committee. The Human Rights Defender's Office immediately responded to the situation by sending a rapid response team to get acquainted with the situation on the ground and to protect the rights of the detainees. The HRD office reported that they received the information as a result of media monitoring and a call from a lawyer. "On the instruction of the Human Rights Defender, the rapid response team of the staff has gone to the Investigative Committee to get acquainted on the spot with the state of protection of the rights of the persons deprived of their liberty and the grounds for their deprivation of liberty," the statement of the HRD office says.

Earlier it became known about the detention of 5 priests: Father Paren, Father Manuk, Father Hayk, Father Mkrtich, Father Ghevond. Last night, after a search, the primate of the Aragatsotn diocese, Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, the son of the sister of the Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, was also taken to the Investigative Committee. The Mother See stated that they are not aware of the details of the case and the whereabouts of one of the detained priests.

According to lawyer Marine Farmanyan, the process is related to a report submitted by Daniel Ioannisyan. The latter, based on an interview with Father Aram, asked law enforcement to check "whether there was coercion to participate in rallies or not." According to the lawyer, the clergymen were detained within the framework of this particular case.