Against the background of the exacerbated conflict between the Armenian Apostolic Church and the government, the Armenian authorities arrested the 4th advanced priestly rank — Archbishop of Archchak Chaczatrjan. He is accused of organizing the drop-off of drugs to a backpack of 1 of the participants in the 2018 protest against Catholic Karekin II.
Chachatrjan was detained by the National safety Service of Armenia (SBN) at the exit of the Investigative Committee building, where he was called in for questioning about the leak of the recording on which he allegedly immortalized an intimate scene with his participation. On December 5, it was decided to put him in custody for 2 months — pending trial.
Chachatrjana's attorney, Arsen Babajan, suggested that the proceeding only served as a pretext for stopping, claiming that the additional circular of questions had no real intent and identifying the questions asked as ‘absorbable and pointless’.
According to the Committee of Investigation, the criminal case was initiated due to the fact that a group of persons acting in an agreement, in a public place, was illegally selling drugs.
Babajan pointed out the contradiction between the alleged actions and the accusations presented. Chachatrjan is accused of dumping drugs into the protestor's backpack with 1 of his subordinates to discredit the demonstrators. Babajan emphasizes that the criminal case is about selling drugs, not about trying to discredit a demonstrators by dropping them off.
Babajan besides accused the authorities of attempting to discredit Chachatrjan by making these allegations against him for political reasons. He besides noted the chronology of the event that took place in 2018. According to Babajan, “some people” had already expressed suspicion that the drugs found in the backpack might have been dumped by Chachatrjana. Babajan then said that the "last action" on this issue was taken in July 2025 without giving any further details. On 4 December, an investigation group was set up to launch a criminal case against Chachatrjan, and he was arrested.
"This chronology itself is evidence of erstwhile a political command was issued. erstwhile the political authorities ordered the political persecution of Archbishop Archchak due to his views and statements," Babajan said.
He placed Chachatrjan's detention in the wider context of government action against the Church, whose next wave began at the end of May, erstwhile the authorities accused Karekin II of becoming a father and thus broke the vow of chastity and deprived himself of the right to presume the position of head of the Church.
The church powerfully condemned Friday's detention, setting the charges as “unwarranted” and demanding the immediate end of Chachatrjan's persecution and another imprisoned clergymen.
“This action is simply a manifestation of repression that has late been directed at the Church,” says the statement.
Prior to that, Prime Minister Nikol Paszynian straight accused Karekin II of being a abroad agent and “subjecting himself to a high-ranking officer of abroad peculiar services”.
In late November, 10 elder clergymen issued a message in which they expressed hope that Karekin II "willfully resign". This message came shortly after their unprecedented encounter with Paszynian, which took place against the background of escalation of tensions associated with controversial material circulated by pro-government media, in which Karekin II was accused of attempting to cover up the scandal associated with the leak of an intimate recording in which Archbishop Chachatrjan allegedly performed.
On December 4, 27 elder clergymen expressed their “unconditional loyalty” to Karekin II. The message besides states that "any effort to resolve intra-ecclesiastical issues through political interference is unacceptable and dangerous".
Source: oc-media.org
Study Bulletin: BIS
