Lawyer: Catholicos of All Armenians is free to make his own decision  regarding participation in any state event and does not need  permission for this

ArmInfo.The Catholicos of All Armenians is free to make his own decision regarding participation in  any state event and does not need permission for this. This is how lawyer Arsen Babayan commented on today's words of Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan about the actions of the police in Sardarapat against the Catholicos of All Armenians.

The lawyer noted that Nikol Pashinyan tried to explain to journalists  why His Holiness the Catholicos of All Armenians was prohibited from  entering the Sardarapat memorial complex.

"Of course, at first glance, this remark seems justified, but it only  seems to be another manipulation and completely contradicts the law  "On State Protocol."

Thus, from a systematic analysis of Articles 3, paragraphs 1 and 2 of  Article 10, Article 11, and the descriptive part of Article 12 of the  Law "On State Protocol" it follows that the event held on May 28 in  the Sardarapat memorial complex is a state ceremonial event, and the  Catholicos All Armenians independently decide whether to participate  in it or not.

No invitation or permission can be requested or required of His  Holiness.

If His Holiness independently decides that he should participate in a  state ceremonial event, then he is second in seniority, that is, if  the President of the Republic participates, then his successor in  seniority is Karekin the II, and the Prime Minister is third in the  list, that is, His Holiness has seniority over the head of  government.

Consequently, the actions of the police were completely illegal, they  contradicted the law "On the Police" and correspond to a special  article of the Criminal Code, which should be applied to them," the  lawyer emphasized.

On May 28, the Armenian police tried to prevent the Catholicos of all  Armenians from visiting at the Sardarapat memorial complex. Special  police forces blocked the road for the retinue of clergy led by the  Catholicos. Nevertheless, the Catholicos managed to visit the  complex, hold a prayer service and lay a wreath. However, after his  departure, the security of the Prime Minister of Armenia removed the  wreath laid by the Catholicos at the memorial. Since the history of  modern Armenia, such a disrespectful attitude towards the Supreme  Clergy of Armenia is the first time.

Notably, commenting on this incident, Pashinyan assured that the  authorities did not campaign the church.  As for the incident, as  Pashinyan noted, the head of the AAC arrived at the venue for  ceremonial events to which he was not invited. "Moreover, the  government was not aware of the expectations of the invitation. The  police were only trying to clarify whether the Catholicos had arrived  in order to continue the "provocative actions" of his supporters and  members of the political movement he led. And when they received  assurances that the visit was ceremonial, they provided the  Catholicos with access to the memorial," Pashinyan said.