Overview

• Judge Armine Meliksetyan issued the two-year sentence after finding Archbishop Mikael Adjahapyán guilty of calling for the seizure of power.
• The court kept his detention in force, rejecting a change to his custodial status as the verdict was delivered.
• Prosecutors had sought two and a half years, while the defense maintains his innocence and demands his release.
• Defense lawyer Ara Zograbyan said they will file an appeal with the Court of Appeals.
• The Armenian Apostolic Church condemned the verdict as shameful, as the case unfolds against a backdrop of government attacks on the Church and related arrests, including Samvel Karapetyan and Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan.