Edmon Marukyan, head of the Bright Armenia party, issued a statement on Facebook regarding the case of Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, leader of the Shirak Diocese, arguing that his detention must be lifted without delay.
“Just learned from the press that the pretrial investigation into Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan’s case has concluded,” he wrote. “The investigator is set to submit the indictment and case materials to the supervising prosecutor, who must, within seven days, approve the indictment and refer the case to the competent court.”
Marukyan asserted that “since the investigation is over, all artificial reasons for keeping Archbishop Mikael in detention can be considered exhausted. If until now he was held on illegitimate grounds, even those have now vanished.”
He added: “Therefore, his pretrial measure must be urgently changed. Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan should be released immediately and allowed to fulfill his spiritual duties while attending court sessions freely. If until now his arrest was 100% unlawful, keeping him in custody from this point on is 200% illegal. The moral of the story: release Archbishop Mikael without delay.”
On June 27, about 30 masked individuals stormed the Shirak Diocese premises. At the time, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan was at the Mother See of Holy Etchmiadzin for a clergy meeting. He later appeared before the Investigative Committee and was detained for two months. He faces charges of making public calls aimed at seizing power, violating territorial integrity, renouncing sovereignty, or overthrowing the constitutional order by force.
