Epress.am News from Armenia
The first instance court of Yerevan’s Ajapnyak and Davtashen administrative districts was scheduled to pass its verdict in the case filed against pro-government Armenia TV company by opposition political activist and Karabakh War veteran Jirair Sefilyan on Thursday. The judge, however, announced during the hearing yesterday that the court has decided to review the case in light of new evidence, Sefilyan’s lawyer, Tigran Hayrapetyan, said in conversation with Epress.am on Friday.
According to the lawyer, the court decision was rather unexpected since sufficient evidence has already been presented to support Sefilyan’s claim. The court therefore, Hayrapetyan said, is merely trying to buy time since it “has no freedom to issue a verdict against Armenia TV.”
“It’s obvious that they can do nothing but grant Sefilyan’s claim; that’s why they are purposely delaying the process,” the lawyer noted, informing that the next court hearing will be held on May 3.
Recall, the jailed coordinator of the opposition Founding Parliament movement demands that Armenia TV refutes the information presented in a June 2016 episode of its “Acute Angle” program. A week before the oppositionist’s arrest, the program claimed that Sefilyan, former commander of the Shushi special battalion, left a wounded soldier to die on the battlefield during the Nagorno-Karabakh war.
In an earlier conversation with Epress.am, Sefilyan’s lawyer had said the TV company was thus preparing the public for the veteran’s inevitable arrest, which, incidentally, occurred 8 days after the program aired.