Waiting
Trials kept being postponed for uncertain periods today.
The trials of NA Deputies Myasnik Malkhasyan, Hakob Hakobyan, as well as former mayor of Abovyan Grigor Voskerchyan charged with the March 1 case were interrupted frequently today at the Kentron and Nork-Marash district first instance court. People in the hallways were getting frustrated and waiting more impatiently for the trials.
Myasnik Malkhasyan's trial was postponed for 20 minutes for the first time because he was not brought to the courtroom on time. The next delay was due to the fact that his advocates Hovik Arsenyan and Melanya Arustamyan were not there either. In addition, Myasnik Malkhasyan had proposed to engage a new advocate Robert Grigoryan. But since the advocate was not present in court, Judge Armen Khachatryan proposed to postpone the trial for an hour until the advocate arrived. The advocate wasn't in court an hour later and the trial was postponed for yet another hour. Later, the advocate came and asked the judge for 13 days to get acquainted with the case materials. The next trial will take place on May 11 at 11 a.m.
The trial of NA Deputy Hakob Hakobyan was also taking place in the same courtroom. Advocate Melanya Arustamyan filed a petition to release Hakob Hakobyan in exchange for bailing the "Anush" factory CJSC belonging to the deputy, which was worth 99 million drams. But accuser Hovsep Sargsyan objected the petition saying that it would be dangerous to release Hakob Hakobyan taking into consideration that he is charged with a heavy crime. According to him, Hakobyan may have a direct impact on the other cases. Melanya Arustamyan remarked that only six of the witnesses are police officers and it is impossible to imagine how his defendant would have an impact on them.
Judge Gagik Avetisyan left the courtroom for an indefinite amount of time to discuss the challenge petition. He came back three hours later to reject it.
During that time, Grigor Voskerchyan's trial was in progress. His advocate Stepan Voskanyan had presented a rejection to accusers Harutyun Harutyunyan and Ashot Nadoyan. According to the advocate, the charge brought up by them was absurd after the reforms made in the Criminal Code and that they had no right to be accusers. The reason, according to the advocate, was that by the decision of the RA Prosecutor General, either the Prosecutor General or the senior prosecutor Koryun Piloyan must defend the charge. During the trial it turned out that the document stating that decision was not found in the case materials and that is why the trial was postponed for an hour to find the document and bring it to the courtroom.
