Could the judge be a protester?
Today the court proceeded with the criminal case of editor-in-chief of "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily Nikol Pashinyan with the examination of the conflict between policemen and demonstrators near the "Urartu" store at the Abovyan-Koryun intersection on October 23, 2007.
Rita Yepremyan and Varsenik Zurabyan were the only two witnesses out of the five witnesses who showed up to court today.
Rita Yepremyan presented herself as one of the clerks at the "American Clothing" store located in front of the "Urartu" store.
Eyewitness Yepremyan informed that she didn't have any residency and didn't know Abovyan Street or Koryun Street. She didn't even know Nikol Pashinyan. Unlike the eyewitnesses who have given testimonies to this day, she hadn't recognized Pashinyan among the demonstrators on October 23.
Rita Yepremyan had followed-up on the event from the store and, according to her, she saw "nearly 100-150 demonstrators with flags and signs". Let us mention that none of the demonstrators had flags and signs during the events of October 23, 2007. According to Yepremyan, protesting women were beating police on the scene, but she doesn't remember how they were beating them.
Nikol Pashinyan asked the eyewitness if she saw any demonstrators among the people in court. "No, I don't see anybody," was the reply. "So, the presence of the flag doesn't mean that there were protesters? Could the judge be a protester?" Nikol Pashinyan asked, referring to the huge flag standing near Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan.
The judge prohibited the eyewitness from answering Pashinyan's question, but he also joined the court's laughter.
The second eyewitness today was "Urartu" store clerk Varsenik Zohrabyan. She had watched the events from the store and hadn't noticed Nikol Pashinyan. According to her, the police and protesters stayed at the Abovyan-Koryun intersection for nearly 30 minutes and then left.
"The case includes one injured who is a policeman. All the testimonies of the eyewitnesses contradict one another, but they are all describing the same episode. They have been trained what to say, but they weren't able to lie and say that Nikol Pashinyan had assaulted a policeman. They can't say something that hasn't happened," Pashinyan's advocate Lusine Sahakyan told "A1+".
Nikol Pashinyan's next trial is scheduled for November 3 at 12 p.m.
