Epress.am News from Armenia
Reserve Colonel, Karabakh War veteran Volodya Avetisyan, one of the organizers of the struggle for the rights of war veterans, in May 2013 was promised a business in exchange for ending the veterans' struggle. Avetisyan said this himself on March 26 in the Court of First Instance of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts of Yerevan presided over by Judge Levon Avetisyan.
Accused of taking bribes and in pre-trial detention since September 20, Avetisyan doesn't admit to the charges; moreover, he claims that the charges against him are a result of political persecution.
The war veteran said that in May last year, when the sit-in demanding a better socioeconomic situation for Karabakh War veterans began, people from the wing of the ruling elite approached him and urged him to abandon the idea of a sit-in. Instead, they promised him money and a business, in both the capital and Etchmiadzin, as well as promising to reinstate him in the system. Avetisyan says he refused the offer.
He said that he rejected the investigator's offer to be released on the condition that he gives up the fight.
"I don't sell my soul and my homeland," he said, which was followed by applause and shouts of "Volodya! Volodya!" in the courtroom.
Judge Avetisyan called for quiet in court; otherwise, he'll be forced to hold the trial behind closed doors.
At the start of the trial, Avetisyan's attorney, Ara Zakaryan, filed two motions with the judge — to recuse himself and to release his client due to lack of reasons to keep him in detention. Both motions were rejected.
After this decision, the accused refused to answer the judge's questions, while Zakaryan appealed to the judge to postpone the trial and to provide him with the recordings of the court hearing. Returning to the courtroom from the consultation room, the judge granted the motion, postponing the court date to April 2 at 2 pm.