Suren Papikyan, who was sentenced to prison during compulsory military service, has been appointed Defense Minister of Armenia, according to a decree published on the official website of the president.

Citing its sources, the Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times) newspaper, owned by Nikol Pashinyan's family, reported earlier that Arshak Karapetyan would be dismissed as defense minister to be replaced by Suren Papikyan, who served as deputy prime minister.

There is no clear data on Papikyan's military service. According to his biography on the Armenian government website, Papikyan was drafted into the army while studying at the Faculty of History at the Yerevan State University.

When it became known that he was handed a jail term due to an incident during compulsory military service, Papikyan announced that the incident occurred during the service in 2004-2006, but not in the Armenian armed forces.

Papikyan acknowledged the criminal conviction, saying he was released under an amnesty.

"What happened is not something pleasant to me. It is one of the episodes that I regret," Papikyan noted.

The Hraparak newspaper reported last year that Suren Papikyan was sentenced to 2 years and 3 months in prison in 2006 for stabbing his commander during his military service which he performed at the Russian base in Armenia.

Papikyan served his sentence in the Nubarashen penitentiary and was released from prison a year later under the amnesty.