Criminal Case Against Armenian Church Leadership Faces New Procedural Delay
The Region in Brief
Armenia's Court of Cassation sent a criminal case against Catholicos Karekin II and six senior bishops back to Armavir Regional Court on September 7, reversing a prior transfer to Yerevan. The case has moved through three judges and two courts without reaching substantive trial proceedings.
The charges stem from the Church's removal of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan as head of the Masyatsotn Diocese. Saroyan secured a court order requiring he remain in office; the Church subsequently defrocked him anyway. Prosecutors allege the leadership obstructed enforcement of a judicial decision, while the Church maintains the state is improperly interfering in ecclesiastical matters.
The case unfolds amid escalating tensions between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's government and the Armenian Apostolic Church. Separately, Azerbaijan's state mining company conducted its first blasting operation at the Sotk gold deposit, portions of which came under Azerbaijani control following the 2020 Artsakh war.
