ANC condemns political persecution of Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian

ArmInfo The Armenian National Congress (ANC) strongly condemns the political persecution of Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian and the court's verdict against him.

The ANC statement notes that on October 3, the Yerevan Court of First  Instance, presided over by Judge Armine Meliksetyan, sentenced the  Primate of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, His  Grace Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian, to two years' imprisonment. "The  entire process of the criminal prosecution of the archbishop,  starting with the initiation of a fabricated criminal case, the  searches carried out in the Shirak Diocese, the raid of special  forces on the territory of the Mother See of Etchmiadzin with the aim  of arresting Ajapakhian, and then detaining him, and the entire  judicial farce, testify to the fact that in fact political  persecution in the most barbaric forms is taking place. What is  happening is part of the lawlessness unleashed by the authorities  against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and its spiritual elite.  It is aimed at restricting freedom of speech and expression and  causes serious damage to Armenia's international reputation. This is  confirmed by the fact that back in 2024, the prosecutor's office and  the National Security Service did not see any corpus delicti in  Archbishop Mikael's statements and rejected the petitions to initiate  a criminal case.  However, a year later, after the current  government, headed by Nikol Pashinyan "The Armenian National Congress  launched an open campaign against the Church, and a criminal case was  opened against the archbishop. Does this prove that the criminal  prosecution of Archbishop Mikael is retaliation, motivated solely by  political directives?" the statement reads.

The Armenian National Congress considers His Grace Archbishop Mikael  Ajapakhian a political prisoner, arrested and convicted for his  statements.

The document emphasizes that the Armenian National Congress strongly  condemns the political persecution of the archbishop and the court's  decision. The ANC is confident that this case will sooner or later  end ingloriously: if not in domestic courts, then in the European  Court of Human Rights. The Congress demands the release of Archbishop  Mikael Ajapakhian, as well as Samvel Karapetyan, Archbishop Bagrat  Galstanyan, and all other political prisoners.