Archbishop Arshak Khachatrian, who heads the Armenian Apostolic Church’s Chancellery in Echmiadzin, is prosecuted on a drug-related charge rejected by him as politically motivated. The Investigative Committee claims that he had one of his aides plant a marijuana joint in the backpack of a protester who demanded Garegin’s resignation in 2018.
Armenia’s Court of Appeals released Khachatrian from custody shortly before the start of his trial in March. A district court judge in the Armavir province, Gevorg Manukian, agreed to recuse himself from the case during the opening session of the trial. Khachatrian’s lawyers argued that he used to work for the Investigative Committee’s Armavir division and may therefore not be impartial.
The Justice Ministry complained to the SJC about Manukian’s decision, demanding disciplinary action against the judge. The judicial watchdog responded by formally reprimanding him. It did not immediately elaborate on its decision.
Armenia - Archbishop Arshak Khachatrian speaks to journalists after his release from prison, Yerevan, March 5, 2026.
The ministry also initiated last month disciplinary proceedings against another Armavir court judge, Hakob Manukian (no relation to Gevorg), who similarly refused to preside over a separate trial of Garegin and six other senior clergymen that began in August. 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. The SJC is scheduled to meet and discuss disciplinary action against him on November 16.
Critics view the ministry’s actions as an attempt to pressure or intimidate judges seen as impeding Pashinian’s controversial campaign against the supreme head of the Armenian Apostolic Church. Pashinian launched the campaign in June 2025 shortly after Garegin accused Azerbaijan of committing ethnic cleansing in Nagorno-Karabakh and illegally occupying Armenian border areas during an international conference in Switzerland.
Three archbishops, including Khachatrian, and one bishop were arrested in the following months on different charges strongly denied by them. Six other bishops as well as the Catholicos himself were indicted but not arrested early this year. The Armenian Church and its backers view the crackdown as a gross violation of the church’s separation from the state guaranteed by Armenia’s constitution and other laws.