Armenia’s Top Court Sends Criminal Case Against Catholicos Karekin II Back to Armavir

Armenia’s Court of Cassation has ordered a criminal case against Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and six senior clergymen back to a court in Armavir, rejecting an earlier attempt to move the proceedings to Yerevan.

The Sept. 7 ruling settles a jurisdictional dispute that delayed the case for weeks and sent it between courts before reaching Armenia’s highest court of appeal.

The case accuses Karekin II and six members of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Supreme Spiritual Council of obstructing the enforcement of a court order involving Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, the former head of the Diocese of Masyatsotn.

The Armavir Regional Court had transferred the case to Yerevan after finding that prosecutors failed to identify the precise location of the alleged offense. Judge Serzh Rushanyan concluded that because the Investigative Committee unit that handled the case is based in Yerevan, the capital’s criminal court should have jurisdiction.

The Court of Cassation disagreed.

Its Criminal Chamber found that the case materials provide a clear geographic connection to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin in Vagharshapat, where the church decisions at the center of the prosecution were made. Vagharshapat is in Armenia’s Armavir region.

The high court said the Armavir court had taken a formalistic approach to the jurisdiction question, creating an unnecessary judicial runaround. It found no legal basis for sending the case to Yerevan.

The case was assigned to Rushanyan on Aug. 10. He accepted it four days later and scheduled preliminary hearings for Aug. 28. But on the day those hearings were set to begin, Rushanyan transferred the proceedings to the Yerevan Criminal Court of First Instance, asking it to resolve the territorial jurisdiction issue.

The Yerevan court declined to take over the case and instead referred the dispute to the Court of Cassation, leading to Monday’s ruling that the proceedings belong in Armavir.

The jurisdiction dispute unfolded as another change took place in the prosecution. Khachatur Galstyan, the prosecutor handling the case, was dismissed from his position at his own request.

What Karekin II and the Six Clergymen Are Accused Of

Karekin II, whose secular name is Ktrich Nersissian, is charged alongside Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Archbishop Haykazun-Vrezh Najaryan, Bishop Vahan Hovhannesyan, Bishop Edgar Hakobyan, Bishop Nelson Babayan and Bishop Arthur Hakobyan. All six clergymen are members of the Supreme Spiritual Council, one of the Armenian Apostolic Church’s highest governing bodies.

They are charged under Article 507, Part 2 of Armenia’s Criminal Code, which covers obstruction of the enforcement of a final court ruling through the use of an official position.

The prosecution stems from a dispute over Bishop Gevorg Saroyan, whose secular name is Arman Saroyan, and his removal as head of the Diocese of Masyatsotn.

On Jan. 16, the Armavir Regional Court ordered the Armenian Apostolic Church and other parties not to prevent Saroyan from continuing to lead the diocese while the underlying case remained before the courts. The order also barred interference with his control over the diocese’s finances and his ability to carry out financial transactions.

The Supreme Spiritual Council later recommended that Karekin II defrock Saroyan. The Catholicos subsequently issued an order removing him from the clergy.

Investigators allege that the decision amounted to obstruction of the Jan. 16 court order and the writ of execution issued to enforce it.

The Court of Cassation’s ruling does not address whether Karekin II or the other defendants committed the alleged offense. It resolves only where the case will be heard, clearing the way for proceedings to resume in Armavir.

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