Epress.am News from Armenia
A representative from Armenia's Special Investigation Service (SIS) did not show up in court today, where Vardges Gaspari's complaint against the SIS was to be heard.
Local activist and former political prisoner Vardges Gaspari is challenging in court a SIS decision to refuse to open a criminal case on the basis of his complaint. Gaspari wanted the state agency to launch criminal proceedings against the two people who interfered with his peaceful demonstration outside the Covered Market ("Pak Shuka") on Sept. 2, his lawful arrest and detention, and being kept in the police station for 3 hours.
Gaspari informed Epress.am that two people stole his poster, who, according to known information, were employees of Parvana restaurant complex belonging to Republican Party of Armenia (HHK) MP, oligarch Samvel Aleksanyan (who also owns the Covered Market). Gaspari complained, but instead of catching the thieves, he said, police picked him up and carted him off to the local police station.
The SIS did not launch a criminal case due to the lack of corpus delicti. The SIS representative did not show up in court today to defend his agency's decision.
The representative also did not send to the court any explanation for his absence. The court session set for 10 am began 20 minutes late. Judge Gagik Poghosyan came to court only to state that the session will not be held due to the defendant's absence and will be postponed. Gaspari said he was expecting the judge to apologize for the 20-minute wait. Judge Poghosyan, however, said that the plaintiff's expectations will not materialize. The next session is set for Dec. 5 at 10 am.