Court hearing adjourned
Armenia's Appellate Court adjourned the litigation of opposition activist Tigran Arakelian on September 25. Judge Armen Afadian and investigator Hrachia Sargsian did not show up at today's sitting.
The Court was to hear the advocate's appeal against a Yerevan court which extended the defendant's restraint for another two months.
"We shall finally lose Tigran. First, they must transfer Tigran to an ordinary hospital and render him proper treatment and then prove his guiltiness or innocence," says Advocate Varduhy Elbakian.
Currently, Tigran is at the "Convicts' Hospital."
On September 18, the representative of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) youth wing Tigran Arakelian underwent an eye examination at the Malayan Optic Center and was diagnosed with eye nerve infection.
The advocate says the illness may have a grave outcome and lead to blindness.
"The illness appeared after his detention, on July 1, and progresses at a terrific speed," says Mrs. Elbakian.
Remind that Tigran Arakelian and some other HAK activists were confronted by a group of plainclothes police officers in downtown Yerevan on July 1 while publicizing a rally held by the main opposition Armenian National Congress (HAK) the next day.
Arakelian and two teenage HAK supporters were injured in the incident and required hospitalization. They said they had been punched, kicked and even pistol-whipped for informing Yerevan residents about the rally.
Later, Tigran Arakelian was charged with hooliganism (Article 258 of the Criminal Code).
The next court sitting is scheduled for September 28.
