Epress.am News from Armenia
The trial in the case of rifle platoon commander Artak Nazaryan, who died suddenly while serving in Tavush marz (province) during peacetime on Jul. 27, 2010, resumed at the Court of First Instance of Shengavit Community of Yerevan Tuesday. This time witness Arman Mnatsakanyan, who works at the military police, but who at one time served at the same military base as Nazaryan, was called to the witness stand.
On Dec. 4, Mnatsakanyan was to have been discharged from the military, but that didn’t happen. Representing the victim’s legal successor, Ruben Martirosyan of the Yerevan-based Helsinki Association for Human Rights and the victim’s mother, Hasmik Hovhannisyan, Tuesday met with Armenia’s defense minister and informed them that Mnatsakanyan hasn’t yet been discharged. Minister of Defense Seyran Ohanyan promised to look into the matter.
Prior to examining the witness, Martirosyan was interested in who hired Mnatsakanyan’s attorney as he didn’t have an attorney at the last court session, and the judge said he would be provided with a public defender. Instead, however, he has an attorney who is a member of the RA Chamber of Advocates. The judge said he’s not interested in who hired Mnatsakanyan’s attorney.
Martirosyan considered this comment by the judge to be biased and put forth a motion for withdrawal (not the first time), which the judge rejected.
Then, Mushegh Shushanyan, attorney to the victim’s legal successor, motioned to examine Mnatsakanyan after the latter is discharged from the military. Representatives of all the defendants joined in this motion, but it too was refused.
Attorney Hrant Gevorgyan, representing accused Hakob Manukyan, expressed a motion of withdrawal to prosecutor Harutyun Harutyunyan, for carrying out an incomplete examination. And Ruben Martirosyan, joining this motion, added that the appeal by witness Artur Mkrtchyan in which he said that his testimony during the preliminary investigation was extorted from him and that he was beaten at the military police station, does not correspond to the truth — it is lost and not among the materials in the case.
The decision on this motion will be made public at 2 pm today.