Yerevan court orders two-month detention for bishop

Bishop Mkrtich Proshyan, the head of the Aragatsotn Diocese, has been placed in pre-trial detention for two months on charges related to alleged election interference and coercion.

He was taken into custody following a search at his residence on Wednesday. Other clergymen and lay employees of the Aragatsotn Diocese were also detained as part of the criminal probe.

The decision, handed down by judge Karen Farkhoyan of the Yerevan Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction on Thursday, also restricts visits to the bishop, allowing contact only with his mother, his lawyer Yerem Sargsyan told reporters.

Sargsyan called the ruling “an obviously unlawful judicial act” and announced plans to appeal it. He argued that one of the alleged offences dates back to 2021, when the act in question was not yet considered a crime under Armenian law. “The law cannot be applied retroactively,” he stressed, calling the case politically motivated.

Earlier, defense lawyer Ara Zohrabyan said Bishop Proshyan faces charges under Armenia’s old Criminal Code Article 149(2)(4) (obstructing electoral rights) and Article 236(3) of the current code (coercing participation in or abstention from rallies).

The bishop has been transferred to a penitentiary facility.