The First Judge Lasted One Hearing. On Tuesday Armenia Named a Second One to Try Its Catholicos.
Karekin II and six senior clerics face up to two years in prison. The first hearing at Vagharshapat ended almost as soon as it opened, and the reason is smaller than you would expect.
Armenia was the first nation on earth to make Christianity its state religion. On Tuesday an Armenian court assigned a judge to try the head of that church.
Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians, is charged with obstructing the enforcement of a legally binding court ruling. Six senior clerics of the Supreme Spiritual Council are charged beside him. Archbishop Natan Hovhannisyan. Bishop Hovnan Hakobyan. Bishop Makar Hakobyan. Bishop Mushegh Babayan. Archbishop Haykazun Najaryan. Bishop Vahan Hovhannisyan. If they are convicted they face up to two years in prison.
The first hearing was August 7, in Vagharshapat, about eleven miles west of Yerevan. Armenians call the town Etchmiadzin. The Mother See is there, and has been since the fourth century. Hundreds of supporters stood outside the Armavir Court of First Instance. The judge closed the courtroom to the public. Then the hearing ended almost as soon as it opened.
It ended because the judge stood down. Not over the charges. Over something much smaller, and much more telling about what kind of case this is.
