High-ranking hierarch Arshak Khachatryan detained in Armenia in "drugs" case

Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, head of the Chancery of the Mother See of Echmiadzin, has been detained in Yerevan on a case of drug trafficking. According to the investigators’ version, the incident that became the basis for the charges occurred in 2018, when the cleric allegedly planted drugs on an activist to discredit the protest movement. Khachatryan became the fourth high-ranking representative of the Armenian Apostolic Church taken into custody recently.

The information about the detention was confirmed by the Investigative Committee of Armenia, as reported by Sputnik Armenia. According to the official statement, the criminal case was initiated under the article on «illegal sale of drugs by a group of persons.» The detention took place on the evening of Thursday, December 4.

The archbishop’s lawyer, Arsen Babayan, clarified the details of the charges. According to him, the investigation believes that in 2018, Vladyka Khachatryan planted narcotic substances in the bag of one of the activists who participated in the action demanding the resignation of Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II. The purpose of this action, according to the investigation, was to discredit the New Armenia-New Patriarch movement, which emerged after Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan came to power, but later lost its activity.

The detention of Archbishop Khachatryan is a continuation of a series of arrests of high-ranking hierarchs of the Armenian Apostolic Church. At the moment, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, the head of the Shirak Diocese Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan and the Primate of the Aragatsotn Diocese Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan are already in detention centers.

Recall, earlier it was reported that amid the escalating internal conflict and confrontation with the Armenian authorities, Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II announced the convening of the Council of Bishops. The emergency meeting of the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC) top clergy will be held in Echmiadzin on December 10-12 to discuss the current crisis, which, according to a number of hierarchs, has no analogues in modern history.