Criminal charges filed against Armenian Catholicos Karekin II
If Pashinyan jails Catholicos Karekin II, will Armenians still remain in a coma?
Armenia's government has filed criminal charges against Catholicos Karekin II and six bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church, marking the first time the independent Armenian state has prosecuted a Catholicos. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for August 7 at Vagharshapat Court.
The charges follow a dispute over the dismissal of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan from the Masyatsotn Diocese. A court ordered the Catholicos not to proceed with the dismissal and banned him from leaving Armenia, preventing his participation in an international episcopal conference in Austria.
Twenty-five bishops from around the world who gathered in Austria expressed support for the Catholicos and criticized the government's actions. The charges represent an unprecedented legal action against the church leadership in Armenia's modern history.
