YEREVAN — Two days before the Bishops’ Assembly scheduled to take place in Austria, the Prosecutor’s Office initiated criminal proceedings against the head of the Armenian Apostolic Church and barred Catholicos Karekin II from leaving the country.
“The Prosecutor’s Office has launched criminal prosecution against the Catholicos of All Armenians, and the investigator attempted to question His Holiness,” said attorney Ara Zohrabyan.
Zohrabyan explained that the Catholicos is accused of obstructing judicial proceedings in a case in which six high-ranking clergy members were charged weeks earlier, effectively preventing their participation in the assembly in Austria.
“This is direct interference in the internal affairs of the Church. The Bishops’ Assembly was scheduled to take place in Austria from February 16 to 19, and through this action, as well as by imposing a travel ban on His Holiness as a preventive measure, the authorities are obstructing the holding of the Bishops’ Assembly,” the attorney stated.
