Archbishop Bagrat's lawyer urges authorities to publish the complete audio recordings without edits

Hovhannes Khudoyan, a representative of the legal team defending Archbishop Bagrat, the leader of the Sacred Struggle movement, has issued a statement urging law enforcement to release all available audio recordings in full and without any editing. He made this statement on his Facebook page.

“A recording referring to 'shooting' has circulated, but it’s been taken out of context. A few days ago, I heard from Bishop Bagrat that if such words were indeed spoken, it would have been during a conversation about drug traffickers,” Khudoyan wrote.

He added, “Out of tactical considerations, I hadn’t planned to disclose this information yet. But the fact that it has surfaced likely indicates that even law enforcement is trying to push back against the escalating unlawful actions.”

Khudoyan reiterated his call: “Once again, I propose publishing the recordings entirely, without editing.”

“I don’t understand why government representatives are ‘playing scared’ when they have full information. Maybe they’ve seen themselves among the drug business leaders,” he added.

On the morning of June 25, law enforcement began conducting searches at the homes of supporters of the Sacred Struggle movement. The Investigative Committee stated that the movement’s leaders and members had planned to carry out terrorist acts and actions aimed at seizing power in Armenia. Later, it was announced that Archbishop Bagrat, the movement’s leader, had been detained for two months. Fourteen other individuals were also arrested.