Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan won the trial of defrocked monk Stepan Asatryan

ArmInfo. The court upheld the claim of Archbishop Michael Ajapahyan, head of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, against Stepan Asatryan, a defrocked priest, ordering a public retraction of information defaming Archbishop Michael. This was reported by Archbishop Michael's defense team.

The statement from the cleric's legal team recalls that Stepan Asatryan, a former cleric from Hovhannavank, disseminated slanderous information about Archbishop Michael Ajapahyan. Specifically, that the high-ranking cleric encouraged terrorism, threatened the Republic of Armenia from prison, and that he has a wife and daughter.

"The Court of First Instance of the Ararat and Vayots Dzor Regions of Armenia, chaired by Judge Emin Abgaryan, ordered the defendant Stepan Asatrayan to publicly refute the information defaming the honor and dignity of Gevorg Ajapakhyan (Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhyan) within five days of the decision taking effect," the statement reads.

The court also ordered the defendant Stepan Asatrayan to pay the plaintiff Gevorg Ajapakhyan compensation for defamation in the amount of 1 million drams.