YEREVAN. – At least some minimum respect must be shown toward state and religious institutions. Opposition Prosperous Armenia faction MP Naira Zohrabyan said this during the traditional briefing in the National Assembly on Monday, commenting on the government representatives’ criticism of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, who had called on to commute the precautionary measure of detention of former President Robert Kocharyan.

According to the MP, the statement of the Catholicos is not a subject of discussion in political circles. "I think that the addressee of this statement should be the court, and the court will decide how to respond to the Catholicos' call," Zohrabyan stressed. "And the dirty and low-level campaign that has been launched against the Armenian Apostolic Church (…) must be stopped."

Another Prosperous Armenia MP, Mikayel Melkumyan, added that the traditional Christian and family values which the Armenian Apostolic Church embodies have, in fact, come under attack. According to the parliamentarian, the state should be engaged in its activities, and the religious centers—in theirs.

To note, the Catholicos of Armenians had called for commuting the precautionary measure of detention of ex-President Kocharyan, as is done in many other countries amid the risk of COVID-19 infection in prisons.