On 14 February, the Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against the Catholicos and imposed a ban on leaving the country. The charge is based on the same grounds as those brought against the six bishops on 31 January. In essence, the leader of the AAHC is being subjected to criminal prosecution for having defrocked Gevorg (Arman) Saroyan, thereby allegedly “obstructing” his exercise of the office of Diocesan Primate.
In its Urgent Report, the Armenian Center for Political Rights presented in detail a number of leading judgments of the European Court of Human Rights concerning the autonomy of religious organizations and the State’s obligation of non-interference․ It is implausible that a Prosecutor General with more than two decades of legal education and professional experience would be unaware of the aforementioned standards.
The relationship between the head of that institution and the ruling political party, as well as the sequence of events, clearly indicate that the decision to charge the Catholicos was taken pursuant to a direct instruction from N. Pashinyan, within the logic of the “very harsh counteraction” he publicly announced.
In light of these circumstances, it is evident that the criminal charges brought against the Catholicos and six bishops, and the restrictions imposed on their freedom of movement, constitute an undisguised attempt to prevent their participation in the Episcopal Assembly of the AAHC. This prohibition results from a grave violation of the Constitution and of the ECHR, in particular the State’s obligation not to interfere with the autonomy of religious organizations. As a consequence, not only the rights of the AAHC under Article 9 of ECHR, but also the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and association, are infringed. Within the meaning of the Convention, such actions are directly prohibited by Article 18.
Read also
Full statement is available through this link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1H_01lx2ezSWU37Qg3HOeE2CfHFlmNgiz/view?usp=sharing