Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan arrested for two months - lawyer

ArmInfo. On the morning of June 28, the Yerevan Court of Primary Instance made a decision to arrest Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian, the Primate of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, for a period of two months. Ara Zohrabyan, a member of the Archbishop's Defense Group, informed journalists about this decision.

According to him, Judge Masis Melkonyan also restricted the  Archbishop's communication to only close relatives and lawyers.  Zohrabyan emphasized that the defense will appeal this decision.  According to preliminary information, Ajapahian will be transferred  to the Nubarashen penitentiary  institution. "The archbishop was  prepared for this turn of events," Zohrabyan said, adding that the  charges brought against the archbishop were completely unfounded and  illegal. He also pointed out that the judge didn't have complete  freedom in making a decision. In turn, another lawyer, Yerem  Sargsyan, had earlier informed journalists on his client's  health  condition. According to him, the archbishop had stated at the court  hearing that if he were to be arrested, he would still be grateful to  God for going through another test. The lawyer noted that the very  motion for arrest was discriminatory, especially considering that  Ajapahyan had voluntarily appeared before the Investigative  Committee, meaning he was not attempting to hide.