Armenian Church Leader Karekin II Faces Trial in Clash with PM

Catholicos Karekin II, head of the Armenian Apostolic Church, went on trial August 7 at Armavir Regional Court alongside six clerics. They defied a court order to reinstate a defrocked bishop aligned with PM Pashinyan. Each faces up to two years in prison. The case tests church-state boundaries amid fallout from the 2023 Nagorno-Karabakh war.