Armenian court adjourns hearings on opposition activist’s case

Arminfo
19 Jul 04

Yerevan, 19 July: The Court of Appeal has postponed until 21 July the
consideration of an appeal by the lawyer of Lavrentiy Kirakosyan who
has been convicted of illegal possession of narcotic and psychotropic
substances due to the defendant’s absence from the hearings, lawyer
Vardan Zurnachyan has told journalists.

“My client was not brought to the courtroom because of some
misunderstanding. As a result, the consideration of the appeal has
been postponed until Wednesday [21 July],” Zurnachyan said.

The lawyer added that Kirakosyan had to be hospitalized a short while
ago because his renal lithiasis disease got worse.

The lawyer insisted that Article 86 of the Armenian Criminal Code was
violated during the investigation. Under the article, police officers
cannot act as key witnesses for the prosecution.

[Passage omitted: reported details]