In the Vagharshapat seat of the Criminal Court of the First Instance of Armavir Marz, presided over by Judge Serzh Rushanyan, H.S.O.T.T. Karekin II Catholicos of All Armenians and six bishops and archbishops who are members of the Supreme Spiritual Council are being investigated in the "criminal case". Defense attorney Ara Zohrabyan reminded that according to the charges, the Catholicos of All Armenians, using his official powers, obstructed the execution of the legally effective court act. The defense side is of the opinion that the detailed factual circumstances of the accusation cannot constitute a crime under Article 507 of the Criminal Code, because the charged action is declaring the bishop to be out of order. It is an action exclusively related to the sphere of internal spiritual canonical life of the church, whose substantive legality the state is not authorized to evaluate or prohibit. The Catholicos has functional immunity as a necessary consequence of the autonomy of the church," said Zohrabyan. He presented the legal grounds for terminating the criminal prosecution against Garegin B, terminating the criminal proceedings: the absence of a crime under the Code of Criminal Procedure in the act described in the charge, the exceptional spiritual status of the Catholicos of All Armenians. Functional immunity when performing the anonymous function. According to the defense, the action attributed to the Catholicos of All Armenians is not a crime in itself, it cannot legally be considered as such. To remind, it was reported earlier that the Catholicos of All Armenians and high-ranking clergymen will not appear at the session, according to the right provided by Article 272, Part 4 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Armenia. Their interests are represented by the defenders. Let us remind that among the accused are archbishops Natan Hovhannisyan, Haykazun Najaryan, bishops Mushegh Babayan, Hovnan Hakobyan, Makar Hakobyan, Vahan Hovhannisyan. The Catholicos of All Armenians is accused of having, at the same time, being the president of the Supreme Spiritual Council, using his official powers, allegedly obstructed another judicial act that came into legal force, the Armavir Marz. To the implementation of the decision of the Court (Judge Edgar Hovhannisyan) "Regarding the satisfaction of the motion to apply a security measure for the claim". The decision of the Catholicos of All Armenians to recognize Arman Saroyan, the former leader of the Masyatsotn Diocese, as a deposed bishop, was evaluated as such an obstacle. The lawyer presented the main provisions of the justifications, proved the independence of the Armenian Apostolic Church from the state, established by the Constitution, and described the accusations as interference in the church's internal affairs. Evidence of crime On the basis of absence, Zohrabyan petitioned to stop the criminal prosecution and proceedings, and in case of doubts, to apply to the Constitutional Court. Then the defense of the Catholicos presented 3 more petitions with similar contents.