Criminal case against Catholicos Garegin II and six AAC bishops sent to court

The criminal case against the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and six bishops of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) has been sent to court, the Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia reported.

According to the Datalex judicial information system, the defendants in the case are the chairman of the Supreme Spiritual Council, the Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II Nersisyan; members of the Supreme Spiritual Council: head of the Department of External Relations and Protocol of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Archbishop Nathan Hovnanian; head of the Armenian Diocese of Australia and New Zealand Archbishop Haykazun-Vrezh Najarian; head of the clergy and youth training program of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Bishop Vahan Hovanesian; head of the Syunik Diocese Bishop Edgar Hakobyan; director of the administrative and economic department of the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin Bishop Nelson Babayan; head of the Gugark Diocese Bishop Artur Hakobyan.

They have been charged under Part 2 of Article 507 of the Criminal Code of Armenia for "obstructing the execution of a judicial act that has entered into legal force using official powers."

The criminal case is related to the removal of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan from the post of head of the Masyatsotn Diocese of the AAC. According to the indictment, on January 15, 2026, Saroyan filed a lawsuit demanding that the order of Catholicos Garegin II dated January 10 on his dismissal be declared invalid and that he be reinstated in his position.

On January 16, the court of general jurisdiction of the Armavir region accepted the claim for proceedings and granted the motion for interim measures. The Armenian Apostolic Church and other persons were ordered, pending a final decision, not to prevent Saroyan from performing the duties of the head of the diocese, including managing its financial resources and conducting financial transactions.

Enforcement proceedings were initiated on the basis of the judicial act. According to Datalex, on January 19 the relevant documents were delivered to the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin through Archbishop Nathan Hovnanian.

Subsequently, the Supreme Spiritual Council proposed that the Catholicos defrock Gevorg Saroyan, after which Garegin II made the corresponding decision. According to the prosecution, this obstructed the execution of the judicial act that had entered into legal force.

Source: News-Armenia