Another judge has refused to hear the case against the Catholicos of All Armenians.

ArmInfo. Another judge has refused to hear the case against Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II and six bishops who are members of the Supreme Judicial Council. Judge Vahagn Melikyan of the Yerevan Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction, who was scheduled to preside over the hearing, has appealed to the Court of Cassation to consider whether the Yerevan Court of First Instance should hear the matter. This was reported by the Judicial Department.

It should be noted that the case was previously transferred to Judge Hakob Manukyan of the Criminal Court of First Instance of the Armavir Region, but he declined to participate, citing his previous work as an investigator and the possibility of bias in this case. Another judge to whom the case was transferred was Judge Serzh Rushanyan of the same court, who ruled to transfer the case to the Yerevan Criminal Court of First Instance.

Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II is accused of a crime under Part 2 of Article 507 of the Criminal Code: obstructing the execution of a legally valid judicial act using his official position. Similar charges have also been brought against Archbishop Nathan Hovhannisyan, Archbishop Haykazun Najarian, Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan, Bishop Makar Hakobyan, Bishop Mushegh Babayan, and Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan.

The case is related to the process surrounding the Catholicos's dismissal of Bishop Gevorg Saroyan from his position as Primate of the Masyatsotn Diocese. The latter appealed this decision in court, which imposed a ban on the Catholicos's decision, which was not implemented. The prosecution claims that the implementation of this decision was subsequently hindered. In February, a ban on leaving Armenia was imposed on the Catholicos.