A third Armenian judge has declined to proceed with the criminal case against Catholicos Karekin II and six senior clergymen, adding another setback to Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan’s unprecedented campaign against the leadership of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
Yerevan Judge Vahagn Melikian has asked the Court of Cassation to determine which court has jurisdiction over the case. Two judges in Armavir had already declined to proceed, one recusing himself and another ruling that the case belonged in Yerevan.
The prosecution stems from the Church’s defrocking of a pro-government bishop, an internal ecclesiastical matter that attorneys for the Catholicos argue falls outside the jurisdiction of Armenia’s courts and law-enforcement bodies. Armenia’s Constitution guarantees the independence of the Armenian Apostolic Church and its separation from the state.
Pashinyan began openly demanding the removal of Catholicos Karekin II last year and has since repeatedly attacked him publicly while several senior clergymen have faced arrest and prosecution. The government has also announced plans for legislative changes related to the Church, prompting its Supreme Spiritual Council to accuse Pashinyan of violating the Constitution and attempting to interfere directly in Church affairs.
The pressure on the Church comes amid a broader campaign against prominent figures and institutions outside Pashinyan’s control. Former President Robert Kocharyan has for years faced prosecutions and accusations promoted by the current authorities, while opposition leader Gagik Tsarukyan remains in pretrial detention and authorities have moved against his businesses and property.
The pattern is increasingly difficult to ignore: political rivals are prosecuted, independent national institutions are pressured, and now even the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church is being dragged through the criminal justice system over an internal Church decision.
The repeated judicial difficulties surrounding the case against the Catholicos only deepen questions about whether this is a legitimate prosecution at all, or another front in Pashinyan’s effort to neutralize institutions and figures he cannot politically control.
