Ara Zohrabyan, defense lawyer for Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II, filed a motion during a court hearing to terminate the criminal prosecution against the Catholicos or refer the matter to the Constitutional Court.
A hearing in the case involving the Catholicos and six bishops who are members of the Supreme Spiritual Council began at the Armavir Regional Court of General Jurisdiction, presided over by Judge Serzh Rushanyan.
According to Ara Zohrabyan, the charge against the Catholicos is based on the Spiritual Council’s decision to defrock Gevorg Saroyan. The lawyer argued that the decision, or patriarchal directive in ecclesiastical terminology, could not have been intended to obstruct the enforcement of a court ruling, Factor.am reported.
Referring to the constitutional guarantee that the church operates separately from the state, Ara Zohrabyan said the state cannot interfere in church affairs.
During the hearing, Zohrabyan said the state has no authority to determine who should be a bishop, Aysor.am reported.
“In this case, it is not enough to assert that the patriarchal directive contradicted the purpose of the court ruling. Declaring a bishop defrocked is an act of an exclusively spiritual, canonical and religious nature,” he said.
On this basis, the Catholicos’ defense lawyer requested that the criminal prosecution against him be terminated.
“The criminal proceedings must be discontinued. What is attributed to the Catholicos is not a crime,” Zohrabyan argued.
Six bishops of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin are accused of obstructing the enforcement of a court ruling requiring Arman Saroyan to be reinstated as head of the Masis Diocese. Bishops Makar, Hovnan, Natan, Haykazun, Mushegh and Vahan were summoned to the Investigative Committee. A prohibition on leaving was imposed on them as a preventive measure. Later, two days before a Bishops’ Assembly scheduled in Austria, criminal proceedings were also initiated against the Catholicos, who was prohibited from leaving the country.
On Jan. 27, a meeting of the Supreme Spiritual Council chaired by Karekin II was held at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin. During the meeting, the council submitted a proposal to the Catholicos of All Armenians to defrock Bishop Gevorg Saroyan. The Mother See later issued a statement saying that, by patriarchal directive, Bishop Gevorg Saroyan had been defrocked.
