Epress.am News from Armenia
Arthur Ohanyan, chairman of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Erebuni and Nubarashen Administrative Districts, is trying to hinder the work of the defense of Hovhannes Harutyunyan, a defendant in the Daredevils of Sasun case.
“There are currently three public defenders involved in the trial, none of whom know anything about either Hovhannes Harutyunyan’s health issues or the appeals we’ve submitted. They know nothing at all about the case. In addition, last week Harutyunyan wrote a letter of refusal, saying he did not want to be represented by these public defenders. The written appeal has been included in the court records, but his request has yet to be fulfilled. Instead, the court has instructed the public defenders to go to the penitentiary institution and meet with my client,, Haurtyunyan’s lawyer Hayarpi Sargsyan, said in conversation with Epress.am.
Harutyunyan was assigned a public defender in January, when he, along with other Daredevils of Sasun members, temporarily renounced their lawyers and refused to participate in court hearings in support of hunger-striking Smbat Barseghyan and Armen Bilyan.
“The public defenders were appointed by the judge, since our clients were under a sanction. The court, however, did not remove the public defenders even after the expiration of the sanction, when we were back in the courtroom defending our clients,” Sargsyan noted.
According to Sargsyan, the presence of a public defender and a paid lawyer at the trial is not only incompatible, but also illegal. “They have been coming to the hearings since January 16. They provide free legal services, despite the fact that they can not represent the interests of a person who already has a paid lawyer.”
The office of the Public Defender, in turn, has done nothing to resolve the situation, Sargsyan added. “Despite my numerous calls, they take no measures not stop this iniquity. The public defenders continue coming to the hearings, despite the defendants’ and their lawyers’ protests.”