RA APPEAL COURT REDUCES HALF A YEAR THE IMPRISONMENT TERM OF "ZHAMANAK YEREVAN" EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Noyan Tapan
Jan 15 2007
YEREVAN, JANUARY 15, NOYAN TAPAN. By the January 12 verdict of
the RA Appeal Court, Arman Babajanian, the editor-in-chief of the
"Zhamanak Yerevan" (Time Yerevan) newspaper was sentenced to 3 year
6 months term imprisonment. To recap, the Court of First Instance
of the Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan sentenced
A.Babajanian, accused of avoiding military service by falsifying
documents, to 4-year imprisonment.
According to the verdict made public by Arshak Khachatrian, presiding
the session at the Appeal Court, June 26 of 2006 will be considered the
start of A.Babajanian’s punishment. Arrest chosen as the precautionary
measures towards the defendant was left unchanged.
To recap, the court session proceeded in A.Babajanian’s advocates
Zaruhi Postanjian’s and Hayk Alumian’s absence. The latters presented
mediation to the court with a request to postpone the session, taking
into consideration the circumstance that the interdepartment commission
discussing applications of the citizens not passing obligatory military
service with violation of the fixed order did not make any decision
yet concerning A.Babajanian’s application.
But the court, qualifying advocates’ absence as invalid, re-start
the session without their participation what became a reason that
A.Babajanian refused the right of without last word, first demanding
providing of his advocates’ presence, then refusing the latters
and demanding to allow him to involve new advocates in the case
examination. The court ignored the defendant’s demands as well,
and passed the sentence without his last word.