[REVISION HISTORY]

Armenian Church leadership trial continues

Updated 9 times since CLSTR started tracking revisions of this situation.

What changed

2026-08-07 18:29 UTC → 2026-08-08 17:16 UTC · added ~~removed~~

The prosecution of Catholicos Karekin II and six senior bishops, launched in late July 2026, moved to trial on 5 August at the Armavir Regional Court in Vagharshapat. The clerics are charged with defying a ~~civil‑court~~ civil-court order that temporarily reinstated Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, who had been defrocked amid allegations of abusing authority and neglecting duties. Conviction could bring up to two years’ imprisonment for each defendant, marking the most significant legal challenge to the Armenian Apostolic Church’s leadership. The trial proceeds amid an escalating clash between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s ~~EU‑oriented~~ EU-oriented government, which accuses the Church of serving Russian interests and has repeatedly called for Karekin’s resignation, and a hierarchy that describes the prosecution as politically motivated. ~~Civil‑society~~ Civil-society groups and the Armenian Humanitarian Union continue to demand the charges be dropped, arguing they lack legal basis and threaten religious freedom. On 7 ~~August~~ August, the presiding ~~judge~~ judge, Hakob Manukyan, recused ~~himself, prompting Karekin’s lawyer Ara Zograbyan~~ himself from the case, citing a potential conflict of interest related to ~~welcome~~ the defense counsel. This move ~~and request~~ was welcomed by Karekin’s lawyer, Ara Zograbyan, who requested a new judge. ~~Hundreds~~ The recusal occurred amid significant public tension, with hundreds of supporters, opposition ~~figures~~ figures, and NGOs ~~gathered~~ gathering outside the courthouse. Samvel Karapetyan, leader of the ~~pro‑Russian~~ pro-Russian Strong Armenia party, denounced the trial as a “national disgrace.” ~~The recusal adds a procedural dimension to the already tense standoff between state and church, while lawyer~~ Lawyer Anna Melikyan of Protection of Rights Without Borders maintains that the case infringes the Church’s constitutional independence and raises concerns about judicial independence in Armenia.

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