Epress.am News from Armenia
A resident of the village of Gandzak in the Armenian marz (province) of Gegharkunik, Hasmik Khachatryan, 27, yesterday petitioned for the arrest of her husband, Sargis Hakobyan. Khachatryan's story was published by the press earlier: her husband beat her for 9 years, as a result of which she fled her home.
Khachatryan's attorney, Nona Galstyan, informed Epress.am about the latest developments. The petition to keep Hakobyan in pre-trial detention was made at the first court session at the Gegharkunik District Court of First Instance. The plaintiff argued that imprisonment is necessary because Hakobyan poses a threat to Khachatryan, adding that Hakobyan has been accused and charged in the past — for hooliganism. Presiding Judge Aghvan Petrosyan postponed discussion of this petition to the next court date set for Jan. 13, 2014.
The attorney, Galstyan, said that no incidents were registered in court, the husband didn't threaten Hasmik in court, and he appeared in court without an attorney. Since the trial cannot continue without defense counsel, the judge said that at the next session, he will supply a public defender.
Since the summer, Khachatryan has been staying in the Women's Support Center's confidential shelter for women and children who have experienced domestic violence. Khachatryan informed Epress.am earlier that her husband even resorted to blackmail to get her to withdraw her complaint, threatening to take their daughter (who lives with her mother) from school and take her to Gavar. Her husband threatened to deprive her of her maternal rights, but later he returned the child. Their son lives with his father in Gavar.