Ban on Meetings with Bishop Bagrat Lifted

The ban on meetings with Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan has been lifted. This was confirmed by his lawyer, Hovhannes Khudoyan, in a conversation with Sputnik Armenia.

According to Khudoyan, another appeal was filed regarding the lifting of the detention, which was rejected. “I submitted a cassation appeal for the complete removal of the ban on Bishop Bagrat's meetings, while lawyer Aram Orbelyan filed for the complete removal of the detention. We have been verbally informed by the appellate court that Mr. Orbelyan's appeal has been denied, while mine has been accepted, presumably in full,” Khudoyan stated.

It is noteworthy that during today’s ongoing preliminary hearings, Hovhannes Khudoyan presented a motion to cease criminal prosecution against his clients, Bishop Bagrat and Deacon Hrayr, based on the absence of criminal composition. Khudoyan stated that the intensity of political interference and frequent violations of the presumption of innocence in this case already exclude the possibility of a fair judicial act being established.

According to him, even a judicial act of acquittal for the defendants cannot be considered fair if it is the result of lengthy investigation and evidence examination. He emphasized that technically, the motion can only be presented regarding his clients, but the motion applies to all 18 defendants involved in the case of “The Struggle of the Bishop.”