A court session has been scheduled in the criminal case regarding the Catholicos of All Armenians

His Holiness the Catholicos of All Armenians The criminal case regarding Garegin B. Nersisyan and six bishops (archbishops) was handed over to the Court of General Jurisdiction of the First Instance of Armavir Marz and assigned to Judge Hakob Manukyan.

According to lawyer Ara Zohrabyan, it became known today that the first session of the preliminary hearings was scheduled for 2026. on August 7 at 16:00, in the city of Echmiadzin (Echmiadzin, St. Grigor Lusavorc str., building 15, hall No. 1).

The Catholicos of All Armenians is accused of the act that he, being also the president of the Supreme Spiritual Council, using his official powers, allegedly obstructed the execution of the decision of the General Jurisdiction Court of Armavir Region (Judge Edgar Hovhannisyan) regarding the “Satisfying the Petition for Applying a Security Measure” of another legal act that entered into legal force.

The decision taken by the Catholicos of All Armenians regarding the excommunication of Arman Volodya Saroyan, the former leader of Masyatsotn Diocese, was considered such an obstacle.

In a state that has an obligation not to interfere in the internal affairs of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church according to international and domestic legislation, the government granted the status of the accused to the Armenian Patriarch to perform a church function.

This is a shameful historical event.

In the last one hundred years, this is the second case when the state government makes the Catholicos of All Armenians the target of criminal or violent pressure.

The first such case was related to the Catholicos of All Armenians Khoren A. Muradbekyan. During the Soviet anti-church repressions, he worked under unprecedented pressure, and on April 6, 1938, State Security agents strangled Khoren A. Muradbekyan.

The steps taken against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church since 2018 have created a picture of continuous state pressures on the church, among which are:

• cancellation of diplomatic passports of bishops (2018),

• Termination of state police protection accompanying the Catholicos of All Armenians (2020);

• Withdrawal of the “History of the Armenian Church” subject from the general education curriculum (2020),

• Termination of spiritual service of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church in penitentiary institutions (2024),

• the significant limitations of the institutional presence of the church in the armed forces and the removal of the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church from the army (2024-2025),

• Attempts to edit Immortal and Holy Liturgies (2025-2026),

• Launch of public political initiatives to change the Catholicos of All Armenians and terminate his powers (2025-2026);

• the application of criminal prosecutions and restrictive measures against high-ranking clergymen (2025-2026);

• and now, the criminal prosecutions against the Catholicos of All Armenians and six bishops (2026).

“Regardless of political views and legal assessments, it is obvious that the Holy Armenian Apostolic Church and the Institute of the Catholicos of All Armenians are one of the pillars of Armenia’s history, national identity and statehood. For that reason, any process unfolding around them is beyond the scope of a single criminal case and has historical, constitutional and national significance.

History shows that oppression of the church and its leaders was never just an act against the person; they have always also referred to national solidarity, public trust and the foundations of statehood.

It is unfortunate that the entire Armenian nation will answer for these actions of the authorities,” Ara Zohrabyan says.

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