The Court of General Jurisdiction of Armavir Province has permitted Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, Chancellor of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin, not to attend upcoming court hearings.
During the hearing, his lawyer, Arsen Babayan, submitted a motion requesting that his client be excused from attending the proceedings. The request cited a provision of the Criminal Procedure Code allowing defendants who are not in custody to miss subsequent hearings with the court’s permission, Panorama.am reports.
“Naturally, when his direct participation becomes necessary, he will attend the hearings,” the lawyer said.
Archbishop Arshak also stated that he supported the motion submitted by his defense lawyer.
The court granted the defense’s request, allowing the defendant to remain absent from hearings until the time of his questioning.
Before the examination of a motion concerning Archbishop Arshak’s health, Arsen Babayan requested that the matter be considered behind closed doors.
Archbishop Arshak has been charged over allegations that, in 2018, he instructed an unidentified person to place marijuana in the backpack of a participant in a protest organized by the “New Armenia, New Patriarch” movement, allegedly to discredit its members, with the act characterized as involving intent to distribute the drug. The narcotic substance, which constituted physical evidence, subsequently disappeared from the investigative authority. The archbishop spent three months in detention in connection with the case.
