The Aragatsotn Diocese Appeals to the Investigative Committee

The priests of the Armenian Apostolic Church's Aragatsotn Diocese have announced that notifications have been received through police officers, on October 24, 2025, at various times (including late evening and night), containing copies of summons issued by Senior Investigator Nazeli Sargsyan of the Yerevan Investigative Department of the Investigative Committee. According to these notifications, all clergy must appear before the investigative body in Yerevan on October 26, 2025, at 09:00, as part of the same criminal proceedings.

This announcement was made public via the Aragatsotn Diocese's Facebook page. "In accordance with the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, the Law on the Relations between the Republic of Armenia and the Armenian Apostolic Church, and the Law on Freedom of Conscience and Religious Organizations, the Armenian Apostolic Church has the right to conduct services and rituals, while the state does not have the right to interfere in the internal life of the Church," the statement reads.

It is a well-known fact that Divine and Immortal Liturgies are served in all functioning churches every Sunday. Each of us will serve the Divine Liturgy in the churches of Aragatsotn province on the morning of October 26, 2025, and we will not be able to appear before the investigative body on that day, as otherwise, we would violate our spiritual obligations and leave our faithful without Holy Communion.

Furthermore, we all wish to present ourselves for questioning only with the presence of lawyers, yet we cannot ensure the presence of lawyers on a non-working Sunday (some of our priests are represented by the same lawyer, which also poses an obstacle to participating in the questioning at the same time). We are not prepared to provide testimony without the presence of a lawyer.

These are valid reasons, and taking them into account, we call upon the investigative body to invite us for questioning on another day, with at least two days' advance notice (the notifications were also delivered in violation of this requirement). It is also noteworthy that on these non-working days, we do not have the opportunity to submit any documents to the office of the investigative body.

At the same time, we express our concern regarding the aforementioned conduct of the Investigative Committee, which appears to attempt to leave an entire province without Divine and Immortal Liturgy.

Signed,

Rev. Manuk Zeynalyan
Rev. Sargis Sargsyan
Rev. Hayk Kocharyan
Rev. Narek Sargsyan
Rev. P'aren Arakelyan
Rev. Mushe Vahanyan
Rev. Hovhvel Ohanyan
Rev. Sevak Saribekyan
Rev. Hambardzum Danielyan
Rev. Yeghishe Barsghyan
Rev. Zorayr Karapetyan
Rev. Ghevond Gapoyan
Rev. Hayk Sahakyan
Rev. Vazgen Hovnannisyan
Rev. Mkrtich Yeranyan
Rev. Vrtanes Baghalyan
Rev. Makar Gevorgyan
Rev. Oshin Hayrapetyan
Rev. Mkhitar Aharonyan
Deacon Artak Safaryan
Deacon Vahagn Stepanyan.