Epress.am News from Armenia
The case of Vahe Santrosyan set to begin at 3 pm on Oct. 3 in the appeals court was postponed to 5 pm, but then actually began around 4:15 pm. Defense attorney Karine Gasparyan had not appeared in court due to having financial disagreements with the Santrosyan’s mother. Santrosyan refused representation in court and declared he would represent himself, reports the Yerevan-based Helsinki Association for Human Rights.
As a result, the court overruled the complaint submitted by the defense and upheld the lower Tavush marz (province) court ruling which sentenced Santrosyan to three years in jail for theft by “illegally entering into an apartment, warehouse or facility” (RA Criminal Code Article 177 Section 2.3).
The only piece of evidence identifying Santrosyan’s guilt was the pre-trial testimony of Gurgen Avetisyan, also found guilty in the same case; however, Avetisyan retracted his testimony both before and during the trial. Avetisyan also appeared in the appeals court, again insisting that he committed the robberies on his own and his initial testimony that Santrosyan was complicit in the crime was given by being pressured and beaten by police officials.
Furthermore, in the presence of the Helsinki Association observer, Avetisyan said that his father told him that officials from the Dilijan investigative division had paid a visit to their home, demanding that Avetisyan not appear in the appeals court.