QUESTIONING OF DEFENDANTS COMPLETED IN CASE OF FOREIGN CURRENCY
EXCHANGE OFFICES’ ROBBERIES IN YEREVAN
YEREVAN, DECEMBER 22, NOYAN TAPAN. The court of first instance of
Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash communities on December 21 finished
the questioning of the defendants in the case of robberies of two
foreign currency exchange offices in Yerevan. The fifth defendant Hayk
Sargsian also stated that the robberies were "naive and violent", and
the actions of the group should not be qualified as "banditry". He
said that he does not insist on his preliminary testimony which is
incorrect by 80%. Prior to the two robberies H. Sargsian went to
these foreign currency exchange offices to ascertain the situation –
the availability of money and the number of employees in the offices,
then he left to wait for other members of the group in a taxi. In his
words, he "knew very little about what had happened" after the first
robbery (which resulted in a victim), thus he rejected his preliminary
testimony, according to which he was better informed. After questioning
the defendants, the court started examining the written evidence and
documents. At the next court sitting on December 28, the court will
consider the conclusion of the forensic medical examination of the
victim Artur Mkrtchian in response to the petition of the lawyers,
who want to find out the causes of the victim’s death. According to
the defendants’ testimonies, the defendant Andranik Torosian fired
at A. Mkrtchian from a gun, while the defendant Sergei Movsisian hit
the victim with a knife.