Epress.am News from Armenia
The next hearing in the case of political prisoner Tigran Araqelyan in the Court of Appeals today ended with a hasty court decision. When Araqelyan's attorney, Mushegh Shushanyan, announced his intention to motion to change the measure of restraint applied to his client, presiding Judge Eva Darbinyan said, "Be patient; don't make the motion yet," and asked Araqelyan a question regarding the previous motion. After Araqelyan's response, Judge Darbinyan said she considers the session closed and left the courtroom with the other judges.
According to Shushanyan, the court's behavior is absolute arbitrariness, which had no precedent in the present case. Speaking to journalists, the attorney said since it's clear that the amnesty applies to his client, it means even if the trial ended today and the upper court sustained the lower court's ruling, Araqelyan would've been released; that is, there would be no further grounds to keep him in prison.
Given the state's decision to grant amnesty, Shushanyan said, the court, without waiting for a motion, should have overturned the decision to keep Araqelyan in pre-trial detention. "Our goal is to prove that Tigran and the other boys are victims of police arbitrariness; they are not criminals; and to get an acquittal. Regardless of the disgraceful conduct of the court, we are going to continue to avail of our judicial rights and will make the motion to change the measure of restraint at the next hearing," he said.
There were several important motions made during today's court session. In particular, Araqelyan motioned to subpoena police officer Shahen Harutyunyan, who is named as a victim in the case, since it has become known that there are contradictions in the testimony he gave in the lower court.
According to phone records supplied by Armenian telecommunications operator VivaCell-MTS, calls were made from Harutyunyan's phone at around 11 pm on the day of the incident; meanwhile, he said that he lost his phone at around 9:30 pm, during the altercation with activists. Furthermore, he said that he regained his number two days after the incident, when, in fact, it was two years later. The court granted Araqelyan's motion; however, his motion for another forensic examination of Tigran Avetisyan, named as one of the victims in the case, was rejected.
Recall, Avetisyan claims that Araqelyan broke his nose. According to the latter, however, an x-ray will show that he lied. The court rejected this motion as well, saying that the parties didn't have objective obstacles to make this motion during the course of investigation in the lower court; thus, to grant the motion at the appeals stage would be a violation of the law.
Araqelyan also motioned the court to examine witness Hrant Mirijanyan, who had told the lower court that he was pressured and forced to testify against Tigran Araqelyan. This motion too was denied.
