The head of the Gugarat Diocese, Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan, told reporters after his release from the pretrial detention center that he cannot say anything about this case, only that an illegal act has taken place.
“This is an illegal case. I can assume many things, but I still don’t understand why they were summoned. This is repression, through which they are trying to intimidate and silence the Church. The Holy See has not taken any anti-canonical steps,” Bishop Hovnan emphasized.
As a reminder, members of the Supreme Spiritual Council were summoned to the Investigative Committee because they are defendants. Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan was also given a preventive measure—a ban on absence.