‘COUP PLOTTERS’ TO APPEAL VERDICTS AT HIGHEST COURT
By Karine Kalantarian

Radio Liberty, Czech Rep.
Oct 8 2007

The lawyers of two prominent veterans of the Karabakh war are going
to appeal to Armenia’s highest judicial instance to overturn the
prison sentences passed on their clients by a district court and
later upheld by the court of appeals.

Ara Zakarian and Mushegh Shushanian, however, say they "clearly
realize that chances that the Court of Cassation will take up their
cases are slim considering the political implications involved."

On September 25, Armenia’s Court of Appeals upheld prison sentences
handed to Zhirayr Sefilian and Vartan Malkhasian, who were arrested
late last year for allegedly plotting to overthrow the government.

Both were charged with publicly calling for violent regime change
shortly after setting up a pressure group opposing Armenian territorial
concessions to Azerbaijan.

Only Malkhasian was convicted of the coup charge and sentenced to
two years in prison. Sefilian was handed an 18-month jail term under
another article of the penal code dealing with illegal arms possession.

By Armenia law, defense counsel have six month to take the appeal to
the court of cassation, but Zakarian says "we will not wait that long."

"We’ll present the case much sooner. Currently, we are working for
our appeals to be as substantiated as possible so that the court will
have no grounds to refuse to open proceedings."

The defense counsel pledge consistent efforts for Sefilian and
Malkhasian to be released on parole, which, they say, is the convicts’
right by law.

"We present it as a demand and not a request. Sefilian and Malkhasian
will never show obedience to make a request to be pardoned or
released," Zakarian said.

By law, chief wardens of penitentiaries are to submit written
applications for their inmates to the parole committee. The latest
meeting of the committee that meets on a regular basis took place on
October 5, but no such application was considered. The next meeting
is in six months, about the time Sefilian will have served his
prison term.

"It confirms our assumptions that there is a clear program to keep my
client in jail until the [presidential] election is over," Sefilian’s
lawyer says.