Lawyer Alexander Kochubayev said his detention and pretrial arrest were politically motivated. He also said the Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction is expected to decide within the next two weeks on the sentence to be imposed following his conviction, according to Sputnik Armenia.

The Yerevan Court of General Jurisdiction has delivered a guilty verdict against Kochubayev.

"Hearings will be held soon to discuss issues related to sentencing, including whether the sentence will be served in prison, whether it could be suspended, the possibility of a probationary period, and other related matters," Kochubayev said.

According to Kochubayev, he is not inclined to appeal the court's decision because he believes the criminal case against him was a sham from the outset.

"Our experience over at least the past eight years shows that cases like this end in the same way. Filing an appeal or a cassation complaint would simply legitimize it. I am inclined to let this judicial act enter into legal force because it is yet another mark of shame on the shoulders of the current authorities. This ruling will appear in international legal reports on Armenia, and I assure you this is also a form of resistance to the authorities' unlawful actions. However, my legal team believes the verdict should be appealed, at least in order to eventually bring the case before the European Court, because we first have to exhaust all available domestic legal remedies," he said.

He added that a final decision on whether to appeal would be made after the full judgment is issued.

According to Kochubayev, the maximum sentence he faces is five years in prison.

"I want to clearly state that this possible five-year prison sentence is for a Facebook post, for freedom of religion, for defending the interests of the Church, and for being a lawyer. I am not a criminal, and I have done nothing that deserves criminal punishment," he said.

Alexander Kochubayev is charged under Article 490, Part 2 of Armenia's Criminal Code with publishing defamatory information about a judge, prosecutor and investigator in connection with their professional activities.

According to the prosecution, in an October 2025 post on Facebook concerning criminal proceedings related to the detention of Archbishop Mkrtich, Kochubayev used language about investigators, the supervising prosecutor and the judge who ordered the detention that, according to prosecutors, defamed their honor and dignity and harmed their rights and legitimate interests.

On October 16, law enforcement officers detained Kochubayev at the Shengavit Court. On October 17, he was placed in pretrial detention for two months. Later, after his wife's health deteriorated following childbirth, the detention measure was replaced with a travel ban, which was lifted on December 12.