Prosecution Presents Arguments in Soviet Logic, Says Advocate for Mikhail Ajapahyan

During the trial related to the Shirak Diocese leader Mikhail Srbazian at the Avan court of first instance in Yerevan, his attorney Marine Fermanian stated, "We are presenting circumstances that would exclude criminal prosecution, yet from the prosecution, we hear arguments still operating within the logic of the Soviet Union."

She emphasized that the prosecution claims that in 2023 Mikhail Srbazian made public statements aimed at seizing power using coarse language. At that time, the Armenian Prosecutor's Office stated that there was no composition of a crime or traces of a crime. Now, they are presenting expert opinions as evidence, classified as permissible under the criminal procedure code, while the prosecution still leans on arguments from a Soviet-era mindset.

Fermanian questioned, "What kind of time-selling are we engaged in here? After all this, the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic stands up and says they are assessing this act in a new light. What new light? It seems the lights aren’t working well in the Prosecutor’s Office after state ownership of the electricity company HEC."

It should be noted that Archbishop Mikhail Ajapahyan has been charged with making public calls aimed at seizing power during interviews.