A signature campaign has begun in Gyumri, calling for the release of Shirak Diocese leader Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, who is currently under house arrest.

The initiative started on the morning of April 19 in the courtyard of the Holy Seven Wounds Church in Vardanants Square.

Participants include representatives of various political forces, National Assembly member Martun Grigoryan, Gyumri City Council Mother Armenia faction head Karen Simonyan, members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun), intellectuals, and many local residents, according to Aravot.am .

It is noted that a significant portion of the signatories were young people who, despite a concert held in the same square with the participation of Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan, chose to join the initiative, considering the archbishop a political prisoner.

The petition text, presented as a “Statement and public demand,” says: “The unlawful criminal prosecution and the imposed preventive measure against Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan amount to torture, as the clergyman cannot fulfill his pastoral duties, while the faithful of the diocese cannot meet their spiritual needs. The archbishop is even deprived of the right to participate in liturgies, which is a form of collective prayer and mandatory for Christian believers and clergy.”

The statement also highlights alleged violations of the constitutional rights of believers.

“Due to the archbishop’s continued deprivation of liberty, the constitutional right of the faithful of the Shirak Diocese to satisfy their religious needs is being violated. Such state interference is no longer justified, as it causes irreversible damage both to a high-ranking clergyman who has devoted more than half a century to God and the Armenian Church, and to the spiritual needs of the Christian segment of society. Therefore, we demand the immediate lifting of the preventive measure of house arrest applied to Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan, the termination of unlawful criminal prosecution against him, and the declaration of his innocence,” the text states.

Abrasim Atoyan, a church-affiliated youth and spiritual follower of the archbishop, told Aravot.am that around 3,500 people have already joined the petition—about 500 via paper signatures and roughly 3,000 electronically.

In September 2025, a court found Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan guilty of calls to seize power, and in October he was sentenced to two years in prison. Later, the preventive measure was changed to house arrest.