Epress.am News from Armenia
The family of rifle platoon commander Artak Nazaryan, who died suddenly while serving in Tavush marz (province) during peacetime on Jul. 27, 2010, and its representatives, as well as the attorneys of the youth accused in the case issued a joint statement Monday, stating that they are against the trial being held in Tavush marz.
As previously reported, at the Jan. 18 court hearing, Judge Samvel Mardanyan ruled to move the trial from Yerevan to Idjevan in Tavush marz. According to the judge, most of the accused and witnesses are from Tavush and thus, the hearings will be moved to Idjevan, the provincial capital. Ironically, in Oct. 2011, the same judge ruled to move the trial from Tavush to Yerevan.
Mushegh Shushanyan, the attorney representing Artak’s family, offered his opinion of why the case has been moved to Ijevan: “They want to wrap up this trial quickly and quietly. I’m convinced that a large part of the witnesses won’t be present in court. They will submit applications to the court, asking that their pre-trial testimonies be the basis [of their testimonies instead]. The court will approve, simply by making public the pre-trial testimonies and using them as the basis of the court order to be issued in the future. We can prove that Judge Mardanyan is not carrying out justice and has no intention of carrying out justice.”
According to the attorney, one of the reasons the trial was moved is that in Yerevan’s Shengavit courtroom, open court sessions were being held, in which several news outlets and civil society representatives were present, and the process of examining witnesses was very difficult and unpredictable for the prosecution.
“That which they were expecting, to wrap up the given witness’ examination in one, two sessions… it seems, they were unable to achieve this goal. I’m referring to witness Arman Mnatsakanyan, who back in early December was supposed to have been discharged [as he completed his mandatory 2-year military service], but unlawfully was being kept in military service. They weren’t discharging him, since he hadn’t yet finished giving his testimonies in court. Finally, they were forced to move Arman Mnatsakanyan’s examination to January of this year, to discharge him, though a new defense measure was applied to him,” said Shushanyan.
Alvard Mnatsakanyan, the attorney representing accused Adibek Hovhannisyan, Harutik Kirakosyan and Mkhitar Mkhitaryan, is likewise opposed to the trial being moved to Ijevan, since it will cause difficulties for his clients.
Representative of the victim’s family Ruben Martirosyan noted that the most secretive character (i.e. working in the shadows) in all this is RA Military Prosecutor Gevorg Kostanyan, who said that it was a surprise for the judge and the accused that the victim’s family and the accused would unite. In addition, they weren’t expecting such active involvement on the part of the victim’s party, which is why, according to Martirosyan, that the trial was moved to Idjevan.
The next court date is scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 31.