New charges to be brought against Hayk Kyureghyan (video)
A Yerevan court was scheduled to announce on July 21 its verdict in the case of Hayk Kyureghyan, who is charged with hooliganism and using force against a representative of the state. However, Judge Armen Bektashyan said the aggrieved party is going to file a civil lawsuit against the defendant, hence they had to wait. Kyureghyan was not seen in the courtroom again. In one of the court sittings, the judge decided that Hayk showed disrespect for the court and had him removed from the hall. Bektashyan has banned his presence ever since Kyureghyan refused to stand when the bailiff announced “All rise!” Kyureghyan was detained following an incident that occurred on July 12, 2014 before a trial of opposition Tsekhakron Party leader Shant Haroutyunyan and his friends. The young man climbed atop a car in a court yard and shot an air pistol off several times in the direction of the police to protest the way political trials are handled in Armenia. He is charged under Articles 258 and 316 of the Armenian Criminal Code. The trial will continue on August 25.
