Police Proved that Armenian Political Prisoner in Armenia in Last 5 Years, Says Pashinyan’s Attorney

Haykakan Zhamanak (“Armenian Times”) chief editor, political prisoner Nikol Pashinyan’s civil action against RA police was raised in Yerevan’s Administrative Court today. The police had earlier declined to issue a certificate to Pashinyan that stated that he had been residing in Armenia for the last 5 years, without which the Central Electoral Commission is not entitled to register his candidacy in an upcoming parliamentary by-election.

The defendants, in this case, were represented by police spokespersons under the RA government who were insisting that Pashinyan was not in Armenia from February 26, 2008, till July 7, 2009, and didn’t reside in his Ijevan home during that period.

Pashinyan, during his testimony, stated that during the period outlined by the police, he was indeed in Armenia and did not leave the Republic of Armenia, which is proved by his passport.

Defendant Gor Harutyunyan, during his turn, noted that Pashinyan, through the mass media, announced that he is not in Armenia, to which Pashinyan responded that during the time when he was wanted by the police, he wrote a novel where he referred to the main character in the first person (which it seems was why perhaps the defendant assumed he had said he was in Armenia). He noted that, also during that time, he always said that RA police and Special Investigation Service couldn’t uncover his whereabouts, since they do not have the necessary expert and intellectual capabilities. That, said Pashinyan, is proved by the fact that he surrendered to law enforcement bodies on July 1, 2009, while police found him just six days later.

Numerous questions posed by Pashinyan’s attorneys, which were directed to the defendants and were related to those sources which their action was based on, remained unanswered, since the defendants refrained from responding to those particular questions.

The prosecution was also unable to say where and when Pashinyan was during the time when he was allegedly not in Armenia. Afterwards, the plaintiff presented a photo of Pashinyan and his wife taken in April 2009, as well as presenting Pashinyan’s wife’s passport which also showed that she too had not left Armenia.

The judge, taking all the evidence into consideration, noted that a final decision will be announced on November 20 at 10 am.

While speaking to journalists briefly after the court proceedings, Pashinyan’s attorney Lusine Sahakyan said that “during this trial, the police were able to prove that Nikol Pashinyan was residing in Armenia in the last 5 years.”

Source: Tert – Original Article

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