The supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church as well as six archbishops and bishops were indicted and banned from leaving Armenia in February one day after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian pledged to prevent an Armenian episcopal conference in Austria.
The accusations levelled against them stem from the defrocking of another, pro-government bishop involved in Pashinian’s efforts to oust the Catholicos. Their lawyers maintain that Armenian courts and law-enforcement bodies have no jurisdiction over internal church affairs.
Their trial began on August 7 in the town of Vagharshapat encompassing the Echmiadzin seat of the Catholicos. The opening court hearing lasted for only several minutes, with the presiding judge, Hakob Manukian, recusing himself from the case. Manukian cited a conflict of interest, arguing that he had received a lawyer’s license from Ara Zohrabian, Garegin’s chief lawyer who used to head the national bar association.
Armenia’s Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) confirmed on Friday that it has received a letter from the Justice Ministry demanding disciplinary action against Manukian. A spokesperson for the judicial watchdog declined to clarify whether the ministry is demanding the judge’s dismissal.
According to the Hraparak and Zhoghovurd newspapers, the demand is related to his refusal to try Garegin. The SJC will meet to consider it November 16.
Following Manukian’s recusal, the case was assigned to another Vagharshapat judge, Serzh Rushanian. The 29-year-old judge ruled on August 28 that Garegin and the other clergymen should be tried by a court in Yerevan.
Armenia - Catholicos Garegin II visits the Yerablur military pantheon in Yerevan on the occasion of Armenia's Independence Day, September 21, 2026.
However, that court proved just as reluctant to take over the high-profile case condemned by the Armenian Church and government critics as a travesty of justice. Armenia’s Court of Cassation sent the case back to Rushanian before the latter resumed the trial on September 18.
The next session of the trial was slated for Friday. Rushanian rescheduled it for November 6 at the last minute.
The pro-government former bishop, Gevorg Saroyan, was defrocked shortly after Garegin dismissed him as head of a church diocese in Armenia. With Pashinian’s encouragement, Saroyan refused to obey the decision and went on to challenge it in court. A district court ruled in January that Saroyan must be reinstated pending its verdict on the lawsuit. Garegin and the six other bishops are accused of obstructing the execution of that court order.
The same court threw out Saroyan’s appeal last week, saying that the appointment and dismissal of diocese primates is the exclusive prerogative of the Catholicos. The decision raised more questions about the legality of the charges brought against Garegin. His lawyers say they will have to be dropped if it is upheld by higher courts.
Pashinian pledged to reinvigorate his campaign after winning disputed parliamentary elections held in June. The church and its backers view it as a gross violation of the church’s separation from the state guaranteed by Armenia’s constitution and other laws.