(MENAFN- AzerNews) A criminal case has been launched against Archbishop Mikael Adjapayan, Primate of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, under Part 2 of Article 422 of Armenia's Criminal Code. The provision refers to public calls for the seizure of power, violation of territorial integrity, renunciation of sovereignty, or the violent overthrow of the constitutional order, Azernews reports.

According to a statement by the archbishop's lawyer, Ara Zograbyan, published on Facebook, Adjapayan has not pleaded guilty to the accusations. Zograbyan added that the investigator has submitted a motion for pre-trial detention, and the court is expected to decide on the matter within 24 hours.

Zograbyan strongly criticized the charges as baseless, claiming the indictment lacks the necessary elements of a criminal offense as defined under the law. He also accused Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan of interfering with the legal process.

"This entire process of attempted detention and interrogation has been accompanied by incorrect and misleading posts by Nikol Pashinyan, which influenced the preliminary investigation and judicial proceedings," he wrote.

Zograbyan framed the arrest as part of a broader campaign by the Armenian government to undermine the Church's role in society. "It is obvious that we are dealing with another illegal step in the authorities' anti-church process, which was manifested in the unprecedented actions of the NSS and police officers invading the territory of the Holy See,” he stated.

The situation has added fuel to the ongoing political crisis in Armenia, where tensions between the Apostolic Church and the government have deepened over the past year, particularly as prominent clerics such as Archbishop Adjapayan and Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan have grown increasingly vocal in criticizing the Pashinyan administration's concessions to Azerbaijan and its approach to national sovereignty.

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