Minister of Justice Surbuhie Galyan on Incident at Seven Wounds Church

“Why are we not looking back at the preceding situation? That is, if there are expressions that a liturgy will not be allowed, and the people will not have the opportunity to exercise their rights to participate in the liturgy, we are discussing a phenomenon aimed at neutralizing that potential problem,” stated Minister of Justice Surbuhie Galyan during a conversation with journalists at the National Assembly.

She addressed the situation in Gyumri's Seven Wounds Church, where the doors were sealed the day before the liturgy, disallowing any spiritual leader from the Shirak Diocese to enter, with police officers guarding the doors. She questioned whether it is problematic to go and tell a clergyman that he cannot enter his place of waiting.

“Let’s look at all phenomena correctly and in chronological order,” she remarked.

Regarding the use of force to remove individuals who invoked the name of the Catholicos during the liturgy, Galyan stated, “I believe that there are responsible parties for maintaining public order. It is not for me to assess the legality of their actions. If they cross the line of legality, that is bad, but if they do not and are aimed at maintaining public order, then that is good. All actions that are genuinely aimed at maintaining public order I assess positively; those that are not or suggest an abuse of authority, I assess negatively.”