RFE/RL – Another Judge Assigned To Case Against Armenian Church Leader

Garegin and six archbishops and bishops went on trial on Friday amid Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian’s continuing efforts to depose the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. The accusations levelled against them stem from the defrocking in January this year of another, pro-government bishop involved in Pashinian’s controversial campaign. Their lawyers maintain that Armenian courts and law-enforcement bodies have no jurisdiction over internal church affairs. The Armenian constitution guarantees the ancient church’s independence and separation from the state.

The case was initially assigned to Hakob Manukian, a judge of the court of first instance in the Armavir province. He recused himself from it moments after the start of the trial, citing a conflict of interest.

Court records posted on the Datalex.am national judicial database confirm Manukian’s reported argument that he received his lawyer’s license from Garegin’s chief lawyer, Ara Zohrabian, at a time when the latter headed Armenia’s national bar association. This fact “may raise doubts about my impartiality in this case,” he said.

Some critics of the Armenian government have suggested that Manukian simply did not want to become the first Armenian judge to try a Catholicos. Even Soviet authorities had never prosecuted any of Garegin’s predecessors.

Datalex.am also shows that another Armavir judge, Serzh Rushanian, has taken over the case. Rushanian, who took the bench in 2023 at the age of 26, has yet to set a date for the next court hearing.

Of the 11 judges of the Armavir court, Rushanian has the highest rating assigned by lawyers. Aleksandr Kochubayev, a prominent lawyer critical of the Armenian government, was full of praise for the young judge, noting his “inclination towards human rights.”

“I have an exceptionally high opinion of his professional knowledge,” Kochubayev told RFE/RL’s Armenian Service. “I would also like to emphasize the independence aspect.”

Kochubayev has represented scores of defendants in court cases overseen by Rushanian. None of his clients has been acquitted by the judge.

“But the process that I’ve seen the judge lead, the reasoned decisions that he makes only makes us hope for the best,” the lawyer said, adding that he therefore expects Rushanian to acquit Garegin.

The criminal proceedings against Garegin have been condemned by not only the Armenian opposition but also key Armenian Diaspora organizations. One of them, the Armenian General Benevolent Union (AGBU), said last week that they “raises serious questions about religious freedom and respect for the rule of law” in Armenia. The World Council of Churches (WCC) likewise deplored the Armenian authorities’ “undue interference in inner church matters.”