Epress.am News from Armenia
Three Yerevan man who were arrested last July during the demonstrations on Khorenatsi street – Soso Margaryan, Gagik Mikayelyan, and Arsen Mkrtumyan – were today found guilty by a Yerevan district court of taking part in mass riots and sentenced to 3 years in prison, Margaryan’s lawyer, Ara Zakaryan, said in a conversation with Epress.am.
According to the lawyer, the defendants “reluctantly” pleaded guilty because the authorities had promised to give them a suspended sentence. “But, of course, the promised was left unfulfilled,” Zakaryan said.
After the men pleaded guilty, the court expedited the examination of the case, and important facts were left unconsidered, he added. “The judge examined neither the irregularities in the pre-trial process nor the illegal acts committed by the police [on the day of the demonstration].”
Soso Margaryan’s father, Ishkhan Margaryan, for his part, told Epress.am that “all the young men had done to the Khorenatsi street to prevent bloodshed.”
According to the indictment, the accused pelted police with stones, but it is noteworthy that there were no injured parties in the case, Ara Zakaryan said, suggesting that the court heard the case on an expedited basis to prevent a further appeal by the accused to the European Court of Human Rights.