Holy  Etchmiadzin chancellor`s defense to appeal court`s decision

ArmInfo.The  Court of Appeals' decision in the case of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, the head of the chancery of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin, will be appealed to the Court of Cassation, as announced by lawyer Arsen Babayan  on his Facebook page.

Earlier, ArmInfo  reported that the court had ordered Archbishop  Khachatryan's immediate release from custody, but had imposed  restrictive measures on him. "I agree with the appellate criminal  court  that the archbishop should not be imprisoned. However, I  disagree that any preventive measures could have been applied to  Arshak Khachatryan," the lawyer noted.

In turn, lawyer Ruben Melikyan presented the details of the case in  an interview with journalists. He reported that the archbishop has  been placed under administrative control, with a ban on leaving  Vagharshapat and communicating with active witnesses in the case.  However, the lawyer emphasized that this does not apply to Catholicos  of All Armenians Karekin II, explaining that he is not a witness in  this case. "The defense is dissatisfied with the court decision. We  have told from the beginning that there is no reasonable suspicion in  this case, and the act described in the indictment has no connection  to the archbishop. The hearing should have concluded that there was  no reasonable suspicion, but that was not the case. This is exactly  why we cannot be satisfied with this decision and intend to appeal  it," the lawyer concluded.