The first court hearing in the case of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, representing the Diocese of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, has begun at the Armavir Regional Court of General Jurisdiction.

Attorney Arsen Babayan stated that the prosecutor initially confirmed that no crime had occurred.

“The act being charged does not constitute a crime; therefore, it is already clear that the criminal prosecution must be terminated, as it should not have been initiated in the first place. We are requesting that the prosecution be stopped immediately,” Babayan said.

Arshak Khachatryan also stated that the accusations against him are based on what he described as the “delusions of certain individuals.”

“A situation arises where there is no physical evidence of a crime, no victim, yet there is a case file. We were previously told that even the drugs were ‘lost,’ the recipient is not present, and the alleged planter is not identified, yet somehow I have appeared in this case. I have not been involved in political activity, but this case is built with elements of pure political persecution; it is obvious that everything is false and fabricated,” he said.