If His Holiness is arrested, God forbid, the entire Armenian people will pay the price, Archbishop Mikael Ajapahyan said during a briefing with journalists in the courtyard of the courthouse, responding to an Aysor.am question about whether he considers it possible that the authorities could arrest the Catholicos of All Armenians.

“The entire Armenian people will pay the price for this. Just as the Armenian people paid in 1938 with hundreds of thousands of victims, so it will be in this case as well,” the archbishop said.

When asked whether he would continue to criticize the authorities, Archbishop Mikael replied: “No, I will have to pat them on the head.”

It should be recalled that the Criminal Court of Appeal has published its ruling in Archbishop Mikael’s case. The court lifted the house arrest imposed on the Primate of the Shirak Diocese. It also overturned the decision of the court of first instance and remanded the case for a new trial.