PROSECUTOR SUGGESTS Four AND HALF YEARS IN JAIL FOR EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF JAMANAK YEREVAN NEWSPAPER

Panorama.am
18:56 04/09/06

District court of Nork Marash and Kentron communities listened to the
charge brought against editor-in-chief of Haikakan Jamanak newspaper,
Arman Babajanyan, which was ready out by prosecutor Janna Kotikyan. The
prosecutor referred to the testimonies of witnesses, which say that
Babajanyan has faked documents with the purpose of army evasion.

It should be mentioned that all witnesses, including two employees
of Shengavit community military commissariat, were interviewed
secretly and did not appear to court with an excuse of "being away
from Yerevan."

The prosecutor ruled out the claim of Babajanyan’s advocate, which
says, "unsigned letters cannot be a base for charge." Kotikyan
referred to article 180 according to which " information on crime
must be discussed and resolved immediately."

Finally, Kotikyan made a mediation to recognize Arman Babajanyan
guilty based on two articles of the Criminal Code suggesting 4 and
half years of imprisonment.

After the speech of Kotikyan, Robert Grigoryan, the advocate of Arman
Babajanyan, had his say. He re-uttered that Babajanyan admits his guilt
of faking document with the purpose of army evasion but does not accept
that he has stolen documents for the same purpose. "I will not feel
more secure if you charge Babajanyan for 4.5 years," Grigoryan said
adding that Babajanyan is in "psychologically terrible conditions."

Grigoryan released his mediation asking for punishment not related
to imprisonment based on Armenian Criminal Code.

The judge suggested the defendant to come up with his defense speech,
but Babajanyan mentioned that he needs time to get ready. The judge
set the time for the next hearing – September 8, at 3 p.m.