Epress.am News from Armenia
The September 9 hearing in the case of Yura Amaryan, a Yazidi man accused of using violence against an employee of the RA Judicial Acts Compulsory Enforcement Service (JACES) began with a delay due to the absence of the defendant, and victim Karen Militonyan.
Before the hearing public defender Ludwig Avetisyan expressed dissatisfaction with the unpunctuality of the defendant: “The defender arrived half an hour before the hearing, while the accused is not here. And I had even told him that we needed to talk and he should come early. What kind of irresponsible people!”
Note, Amaryan previously refused the services of a public defender who, as stated by the accused, urged him to admit guilt in order to get a mild punishment. The defendant, however, denied the accusations claiming instead that JACES employees beat him and his mother, as well as used derogatory words towards Yazidi people. The accused was released on his own recognizance.
In response to Epress.am's question whether the defense was going to raise the issue of discrimination on ethnic grounds in court Ludwig Avetisyan answered that “Amaryan himself will testify about that if he wishes.”
The defendant, as stated by the public defender, does not admit he has hit the JACES employee with stones. “Of course, I have to defend him, but all the witnesses say he has [hit with stones],” Avetisyan said while acknowledging that witnesses are all JACES employees and would “never testify against their colleague.”
The hearing was also attended by JACES employees who are involved in the case as witnesses; they took their seats after greeting and embracing public prosecutor Mkrtchyan.
The defendant, however, failed to appear, and presiding judge Levon Avetisyan granted the prosecutor's motion for Amaryan's detention.
In a conversation with Epress.am prosecutor Mkrtchyan said he was aware Amaryan has voiced allegations of ethnic discrimination. However, the public prosecutor did not explain why the matter had not been addressed in the indictment, and why the prosecution did not find it necessary to find evidence of allegations of discrimination on ethnic grounds.
Pictured Yura Amaryan (left) and Ludwig Avetisyan