Armenian media: New Justice Minister Galyan’s “weakness” for women revealed in staff overhaul

Since her appointment as Armenia's Minister of Justice, Srbuhi Galyan has initiated a significant personnel overhaul within the ministry.

According to the newspaper “Hraparak”, сited by Armenian news outlets, several deputy ministers, as well as heads of various departments and divisions, have been dismissed, Caliber.Az reports.

The publication notes that Galyan’s decision to remove the staff appointed by her predecessor, Grigor Minasyan, is not only her personal choice but also a directive from higher authorities.

“How many officials have left the ministry? For example, the head of the control department was dismissed, and Arsen Simonyan, a former prosecutor, was appointed in his place. The head of the department for the development of criminal law and probation policy was also relieved of his duties. Klara Gasparyan has taken over his position. Rubina Mkhtaryan, who previously headed one of the ministry’s divisions, has been appointed head of the international legal cooperation department. In fact, Galyan has a ‘weakness’ for women. Even the head of the Penitentiary Service is a woman, Tsovinar Tadevosyan,” the newspaper writes.

When asked to comment on the "personnel matters" within the ministry, the Ministry of Justice responded, stating that, similar to other government bodies, the Ministry of Justice is undergoing “staff reshuffles,” and there is no talk of any “purge.”

It is important to note that Srbuhi Galyan was appointed as Minister of Justice in early November of the previous year. The ruling team had struggled for nearly a month to find a suitable successor for Grigor Minasyan. Several names were proposed, including some members of parliament, but their party’s active members rejected these suggestions.

By Tamilla Hasanova