Former Armenian MP Aik Mamidjanyan stated that he will attend the court session in Echmiadzin scheduled for August 7 at 16:00 regarding the case of the Catholicos of all Armenians. On his Facebook page, Mamidjanyan called the situation a national disgrace for which Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan is responsible.
"I cannot imagine how His Holiness the Patriarch and the bishops will enter the court, where the judge will address them with secular names, ordering them to 'sit' and 'stand'. This is a scene I cannot even imagine," he said.
Mamidjanyan urged citizens to be present in court on August 7 to express their support and respect for the Catholicos of all Armenians and the Armenian Apostolic Church.
"On August 7, I will be in court to express my support and respect for the Armenian Patriarch and our Church," noted the former MP.
The Prosecutor General's Office of Armenia initiated a criminal case against Catholicos Garegin II and six bishops of Holy Echmiadzin on February 14, 2026. In July 2026, the indictment was approved and sent to the court of general jurisdiction.
The Catholicos has been banned from leaving the country, and he is accused of obstructing the execution of a court act related to the archbishop who was stripped of his rank. The criminal proceedings were initiated on February 14, 2026. The official position of the prosecutor's office is that it concerns the obstruction of the execution of a court act regarding the case of the archbishop Gevorg (Arman) Saroyan, who was stripped of his rank. The Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin has sharply condemned the actions of the authorities. The Church considers the criminal prosecution as an illegal interference of the state in the internal affairs of the religious organization and pressure on the spiritual leadership of the country.
