Armenian Archbishop gets convicted for two years over inciting coup
(MENAFN) Armenian Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan has been convicted of inciting a coup and sentenced to two years in prison, amid escalating tensions between the national church and the government. The cleric has called the charges politically motivated.
The case comes amid growing friction between Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and opposition figures supported by the Armenian Apostolic Church (AAC). Critics accuse Pashinyan of betraying Armenia’s national interests after agreeing to transfer several border villages to Azerbaijan, a country with which Armenia has longstanding territorial disputes. Pashinyan, however, defended the decision, stating it aims to resolve a decades-long conflict between the two former Soviet republics.
Ajapahyan, who has been in custody since his arrest in late June, was sentenced by a court in Yerevan on Friday. Prosecutors had sought a two-and-a-half-year sentence, while the defense maintained his innocence.
According to the indictment, Ajapahyan allegedly called for the overthrow of the Armenian government during media interviews in February 2024 and June 2025. Following his arrest, he warned that “the Lord will not forgive the pathetic minions who know very well what they do.”
In August, Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All Armenians, expressed concern over an “illegal campaign against the Armenian Apostolic Holy Church and its clergy by the ruling political force,” according to a church statement.
In June, Armenian authorities also arrested Bishop Bagrat Galstanyan on charges of terrorism and plotting a coup. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov described the church-government dispute as an “internal matter” but noted that many in the large Armenian diaspora in Russia are watching the events with concern and disapproval.
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