First court hearing in the case of Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan scheduled for tomorrow

The first court hearing in the case of political persecution against Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan is scheduled for March 25 at 4:00 PM. The session will take place in courtroom No. 2, located at 41 Republic Street in Armavir, lawyer Arsen Babayan reports.

“Let me remind you that, within the framework of this case, the Archbishop has been charged with allegedly instructing an unidentified individual in 2018 to place marijuana in the backpacks of participants of the ‘New Armenia, New Patriarch’ movement, with the aim of discrediting its members. According to the accusation, this constitutes drug trafficking with intent to sell. In connection with this case, the Archbishop was held in custody for three months.

This criminal case, with clear political overtones, claims to be an unprecedented farce in jurisprudence.

It is a case in which drugs were allegedly circulated, yet the physical evidence has disappeared from the investigative body.

It is also a case where the so-called ‘evidence’ begins with the phrase: ‘I cannot assert, but I think it is he…’

P.S. Quite ‘coincidentally,’ on the eve of the expected court hearing (today, at this very moment), the inspection body has initiated checks at a pharmacy owned by the husband of the Archbishop’s sister,” Babayan wrote.