Verdict not announced
On December 9, Kentron and Nork-Marash district Court was scheduled to return a verdict on Ashot Banuchyan, assistant director of the Matenadaran Institute of Ancient Armenian Manuscripts and head of Levon Ter-Petrosyan's pre-election office during the 2008 presidential elections.
After a 20-minute delay, Judge Gagik Poghosyan's secretary announced that the judge was busy in the retiring-room and the presentees would additionally be informed about the data of the next sitting.
With regard to Prosecutor Armen Bohnaghyan's motion to sentence the defendant to 4,5 years' imprisonment, Banuchyan said: "I know that I am innocent. So are my friends locked in different prisons. I shall struggle till the end to administer justice in Armenia."
Arshak Banuchyan is charged under Article 205 of the Armenian Criminal Code (money squandering) and Article 179 (evasion of taxes).
