Epress.am News from Armenia
A Yerevan court acquitted today an Armenian activist of hooliganism charges brought after he crashed in December, 2015, a homemade cardboard tank into the building of the country's National Security Service (NSS). The ruling came after prosecution announced at a Friday court hearing that they were dropping criminal proceedings against Artak Gevorgyan, a member of the local street-art group Hakaharvats (Counter Strike).
Speaking to reporters after the hearing, Gevorgyan said he would continue his activities “no matter how hard [authorities] try to hold me back."
Tigran Safaryan, a lawyer for the activist, added for his part that the NSS sudden change of heart which resulted in their refusal to further participate in the criminal proceedings was influenced by the appointment in February of a new chief of the agency [ARM]. “I've said from the beginning that the initiation of a criminal case was ludicrous. Criminal proceedings were dropped not by the prosecution's or the court's decision, but by that of the NSS,” the lawyer stressed.