Ombudsman says no probe into PM’s church comments

PanARMENIAN.Net - The Human Rights Defender's office has not initiated an investigation into Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s early morning Facebook posts from May 30, citing the absence of any identifying information and the lack of complaints from specific individuals. This was confirmed by the Ombudsman’s office, according to Factor.am .

“In the presence of a complaint, the Human Rights Defender will act within the scope of their mandate. Under Armenian law, the body responsible for overseeing the conduct of public officials and investigating alleged violations of ethical standards is the Corruption Prevention Commission. With this in mind, we ask that the question be directed to the competent authority. During a press briefing the previous day, the Ombudsman also noted that their office has no authority over issues related to officials’ ethics and indicated the responsible body,” stated Artur Aslanyan, an advisor to the Ombudsman.

Factor TV had previously contacted the Corruption Prevention Commission, but the agency requested a formal written inquiry.

Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan made several Facebook posts in response to criticism from clergy, who reacted strongly to his comparison of churches to storage sheds during a government session. In his posts, Pashinyan used offensive language toward members of the clergy. His wife, Anna Hakobyan, also joined the exchange with her own posts, calling clergy “the country’s chief pedophiles.”