JHANGIRYAN DID NOT COMPLAIN

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“Are you here again, Mr. Colonel? Is there no murderer out there so you can go and catch them?” These were the words that former deputy Prosecutor Gagik Jhangiryan told the police colonel who had come to guard him before the start of the court session, in the Kentron and Norq-Marash communities General Court.

Witness of the defense Karen Hovhannisyan and Grigor Zaqaryan were questioned during today’s court session. While the first witness knew Jhangiryan well enough, having been his assistant, the second one was a taxi driver and did not know Jhangiryan; he had simply happened to be an eyewitness.

Grigor Zaqaryan told that on February 23, at about 10:00 p.m. he noticed people with black uniforms near the Argavand crossroad. 5 minutes later Jhangiryan’s car appeared. “After several shots I saw them take down the passenger. Another man was pushed to the ground. There were 2-3 more shots. There were at least 50 people in black uniforms. At the end they shot 2-3 more times and went away” Grigor Zaqaryan told the court. He also added that after the second batch of shots he was frightened and getting out of his car, joined the people gathered around.

Assistant Karen Hovhannisyan told everything he had seen on February 23 when accompanying Gagik Jhangiryan. After the arrest, he had witnessed the latter being beaten in the hall of the building, but he refused to tell anything about it purely from the moral point of view. But when Jhangiryan asked him to tell everything, he started to speak in a trembling voice. He told how Gagik and Vardan Jhangiryans were thrown to the ground and beaten up.

According to the witness, even the people arresting the Jhangiryans were surprised to see how they were beaten. “They were even asking them to not do it. Gagik Jhangiryan asked not to beat Vardan, since the latter has a weak back.”

After listening to the witnesses, Gagik Jhangiryan said to the Judge, “Even though the Council of Europe says that no court decision on March 1 cases can be based on the police information, you, Mr. Vardanyan, stick to the same approach. I have been under illegal arrest for the last 9 months.”

Those present greeted Jhangiryan’s announcement with applause.

Jhangiryan’s advocates asked the Judge to change the preemptive measure against Jhangiryan. Judge Zhora Vardanyan postponed the making of the decision until the end of investigating the matter.

The next session is due to take place on November 18, 02:00 p.m.