The Yerevan City First Instance Criminal Court of General Jurisdiction on Friday issued its ruling regarding the detention of Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian, the Primate of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, and he was sentenced to two years in prison.

The prosecution had motioned that Archbishop Ajapahian be sentenced to 2 years and 6 months in prison.

On September 24, the court had issued its verdict in the criminal case against Ajapahian, and found him guilty under Section 2 of Article 422 of the Criminal Code of Armenia—that is, making public calls for seizing power, violating territorial integrity, renouncing sovereignty, or forcibly overthrowing the constitutional order in Armenia

And the preventive measure of detention had been left unchanged, with its limitations.

According to the indictment, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahian is charged with making public calls to seize power in Armenia during his several interviews with the mass media.