The Prosecutor General of Armenia, Anna Vardapetyan, has filed a cassation appeal to the Cassation Court against the decision of the Court of Appeal dated June 25, 2026, regarding the head of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, Archbishop Mikael Aghapahyan.
According to the defense team of Archbishop Mikael Aghapahyan, the Prosecutor General disagrees with the decision of the Court of Appeal of the Republic of Armenia and has requested the Cassation Court to overturn this decision.
It should be noted that the Court of Appeal had canceled the house arrest as a preventive measure against Archbishop Mikael Aghapahyan. The court also annulled the decision of the first instance court in his case and sent it for reconsideration.
The Archbishop is accused of making public calls for the violent seizure of power or the overthrow of the constitutional order. Aghapahyan does not admit his guilt, and his lawyers claim that the prosecution is politically motivated.
In June 2025, a criminal case was initiated against the archbishop, and he was detained and taken into custody. In October 2025, the first instance court in Yerevan found Mikael Aghapahyan guilty and sentenced him to 2 years in prison. In February 2026, the Court of Appeal released him from custody, replacing the measure of restraint with house arrest.
