Two-Hour Interruption in Nikol Pashinyan Trial
The first part of the Nikol Pashinyan trial began today at the Court of First Instance of Shengavit Community of Yerevan and lasted for only about an hour, after which the judge, Mnatsakan Martirosyan, left for the consultation room for two hours to discuss attorney Lusine Sahakyan’s solicitation.
Pashinyan’s attorney Lusine Sahakyan solicited for the judge’s resignation, placing his impartiality to doubt. Sahakyan presented a number of grounds for her solicitation, particularly recalling Mnatsakn Martirosyan’s attitude and behaviour towards the defendants during the trials of Alexander Arzumanyan and Suren Sirunyan.
Nikol Pashinyan also made a solicitation. In his address to the court, he mentioned surveys carried out by a number of international non-governmental organizations and sociological firms, according to which a number of systems, including the law enforcement and judicial systems, are considered to be representatives of a corrupted system. For this reason, Pashinyan stated that Mnatsakan Martirosyan is also considered a representative of that structure and cannot be impartial.
In response to Pashinyan’s speech, prosecutor Koryun Piloyan said that the solicitations can be dismissed, stating, “What, do you mean to say all the judges are corrupt and Mnatsakan Martirosyan also is a representative of those corrupted judges?”
Those in the room applauded after this statement.
The people gathered before the court building continued shouting their slogans, demanding Pashinyan’s release.
Nikol Pashinyan, editor of local paper Haykakan Zhamanak (Armenian Times) who disappeared from Armenian public life after the events of March 1, 2008, was charged with organizing mass disorder and violence against authorities and holding a public event in violation of law. Pashinyan came out of hiding and surrendered to police in July 2009.
Source: Tert – Original Article
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