Archbishop Ajapayan's case reaches court

The prosecutor's office has approved the indictment against the head of the Shirak diocese, Mikael Ajapayan, in the case of calls to seize power. The case has been referred to court.

As "Kavkazsky Uzel" reported, on June 27, security forces detained the head of the Shirak diocese, Mikael Ajapayan (also referred to in the media as Mikael Ajapakhyan), who voluntarily came to the Investigative Committee. He was charged under Part 2 of Article 422 of the Criminal Code, which provides for two to five years of imprisonment. The archbishop rejected the charge. The court arrested him for two months

The case of the Primate of the Shirak Diocese, Archbishop Mikael Ajapayan, has been transferred to Judge Armine Meliksetyan, the News.AM agency reported today.

Earlier, the prosecutor's office approved the indictment against Archbishop Ajapayan and sent the case to court.

According to the indictment, Archbishop Ajapayan is accused of regularly making public speeches in the media, having a large number of followers and, therefore, having a significant opportunity to use his words direct the behavior of members of society, disagreeing with the positions of the Armenian government on domestic and foreign policy issues, using the media, information and communication technologies, on February 3, 2024, and then on June 21, 2025, in an interview with media representatives, publicly called for the seizure of power, the report says.

Recall that on June 25, security forces conducted more than 90 searches in the case of preparing to seize power in Armenia. By a court decision, the leader of the Sacred Struggle movement, Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan and 14 other people were taken into custody. A day earlier, on June 24, Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan announced that a coup had been prevented and published a document with the text of the opposition's alleged plan to remove him from power.

Bagrat Galstanyan led the Tavush for the Motherland movement (later called the Sacred Struggle) in 2024, protesting the transfer of border territories to Azerbaijan. In May of that year, Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian participated in a protest march of residents of the Shirak region who demanded an end to the border delimitation.

The standoff between the Armenian authorities and the Armenian Apostolic Church intensified in 2020 against the backdrop of the 44-day Karabakh war and the authorities' desire to improve relations with Turkey. It escalated in late May 2025, when Pashinyan publicly criticized the Armenian Apostolic Church and its representatives and called for the election of a new Catholicos of All Armenians.