Convicted Armenian clergyman needs urgent surgery - opposition MP

ArmInfo. Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian, head of the Shirak Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, requires urgent surgery. Garnik Danielyan, a member of  parliament from the opposition Hayastan faction, told reporters this  on December 8 in parliament, where a closed-door debate on deaths and  suicides in penitentiary institutions was taking place.

According to Danielyan, the alarming mortality statistics in prisons  reinforce the need for special oversight and accountability. For  example, the deputy noted, the number of deaths in penitentiaries has  reached 23 in a year, which is an "appalling figure," and only 8 of  these were suicides.

"Penitentiaries are extremely overcrowded, which is also a result of  the growing number of politically motivated cases," he noted, drawing  attention to the case against Archbishop Mikael Ajapakhian.

"This is an extremely sensitive and important issue." "The archbishop  must be ensured the surgery is performed a day earlier under the  supervision and with the participation of his attending physician,"  he stated, promising to be consistent in this matter.

He noted that the matter had already been processed through the  relevant authorities in accordance with the required procedures.  "Ajapakhyan's lawyer filed a corresponding application, but the  process is facing bureaucratic delays-specifically, they are  demanding changes to the document. We will make the corrections and  see if they are delaying the process again," said Garnik Danielyan.

The archbishop was arrested on June 28 by a decision of the Yerevan  Court of Primary Instance. The cleric is accused of calling for the  violent overthrow of the government. Moreover, these calls were  voiced a year ago and were deemed not to constitute a crime by the  National Security Service of Armenia.

Nevertheless, according to the Investigative Committee, during the  preliminary investigation of the criminal case, clear factual  evidence was obtained that M.A. stated in an interview with a news  channel that he had repeatedly proposed to two former presidents of  the Republic of Armenia to carry out a military coup through generals  who held similar positions in the army, police, and national security  agencies. "Thus, M.A., using the media, made public calls aimed at  seizing power and violently overthrowing the constitutional order,"  the statement stated. Public criminal prosecution was initiated  against M.A. under Part 2 of Article 422 of the Criminal Code (public  calls aimed at seizing power, violating territorial integrity,  renunciation of sovereignty, or violently overthrowing the  constitutional order). Mikael Ajapakhyan, like Archbishop Bagrat  Galstanyan, and now Archbishop Arshak Khachatryan, are being held in  the Yerevan-Kentron penal institution (the famous "KGB basement" in  the building of the National Security Service of Armenia).