Opposition politician condemns Armenian archbishop's conviction

Opposition politician Armen Ashotyan, deputy chairman of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA), has condemned the conviction of Archbishop Mikayel Ajapahyan, calling him a “political prisoner”.

Ajapahyan, the leader of the Shirak Diocese, was found guilty of calling for a violent overthrow of the country’s constitutional order on Wednesday and is facing up to five years in prison.

 “I have not shared a number of the archbishop’s political views, but I have always respected him as a highly intellectual and exceptional clergyman. I am confident that after his inevitable release, our disagreements will remain,” Ashotyan wrote on Facebook on Thursday.

“Plato is dear to me, but dearer still is the truth. Archbishop Mikayel is innocent. He is a political prisoner and will win. Freedom to him and all other Armenian political prisoners held in Yerevan and Baku,” the politician added.