A lawyer called on Armenian citizens to respond to a publication by an Austrian outlet defaming the name of the Catholicos of All Armenians

Arminfo.  Lawyer Ruben Melikyan called on the citizens of Armenia to respond to a publication in the Austrian newspaper Die Furche, in which Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II is referred to as “Putin’s Patriarch.”

He made the appeal in a video posted on his Facebook page, in which he said that the article had been published back in June. According to Melikyan, apart from being political, the article also insults all followers of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). “Because it turns out that the spiritual leader of Armenians is being portrayed as dependent on another state for political purposes. This insults the feelings of at least several million followers of the AAC. Those who have dignity understand that this is not only the problem of the Catholicos of All Armenians—it is our common problem. This is not a matter of an individual, given that the Church is part of our identity,” the lawyer noted.

In this regard, he called on readers to present their position regarding the material on the publication’s page by leaving a comment under one of the posts without insults. “This should be followed by a general reaction, after which the publication will be forced to remove the material from its page and apologize. We must explain to people that if they see such an attitude by the authorities of a country (toward the Church—ed.), this does not mean that there are no people with dignity among that country’s society. We must show that such people exist and that they demand an answer,” Melikyan said.

Earlier, the lawyer had also published on his page his appeal to the editors of the Austrian publication. In it, he said that an article about events in Armenia had been written by a certain Susan Glass. The lawyer drew the publication’s attention to the fact that the content of her article contradicts the basic rules of journalism, while the title of the article, “Putin’s Patriarch,” is outright defamatory and deeply offensive, including to him as a follower of the AAC. “I am certain that many other followers of our Church share my approach. In this regard, I would like to express my deep indignation to you and demand an apology. Otherwise, you, and especially Mrs. Glass, will become in our eyes mere ‘Goebbels-style propagandists,’” the lawyer wrote.

It should be recalled that since May 2025, the Armenian authorities have launched an active anti-Church policy and are seeking the departure of Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, who is elected to this position for life. As part of this campaign, both clergy members and citizens speaking in support of the Church have been subjected to persecution. In February of this year, the Armenian Prosecutor’s Office opened a criminal case against Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II, and he was banned from leaving the country. The case was initiated on charges of obstructing the execution of a judicial act related to the defrocking of Arman Saroyan. Khachatur Galstyan was appointed prosecutor in the criminal case. Several other high-ranking clergymen are also involved in the case. On August 7, Judge Hakob Manukyan, under whose chairmanship the first hearing in the case against the Catholicos of All Armenians and six bishops was scheduled to take place, announced his recusal. The case was subsequently assigned to Judge Serzh Rushanyan. However, on August 28, Rushanyan decided to refer the case against Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II and six bishops—members of the Supreme Spiritual Council—to the Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan. After that, another judge refused to hear the case against Catholicos of All Armenians Garegin II—Judge Vaagn Melikyan of the Yerevan Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction—and the case was once again referred to Judge Serzh Rushanyan. The hearing will continue on September 18.