REJECTION TO JUDGE

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[03:08 pm] 15 October, 2007

Today Gagik Hakobian, the shareholder of Royal Armenia Company appeared
in the courtroom handcuffed and escorted by policemen.

The court rejected advocate Ashot Sargsian’s petition to change the
preventive punishment.

To remind: Gagik Hakobian was detained at Zvartnots airport the
moment he returned from Spain. He had left Armenia to undergo
medical treatment in Spain and failed to attend the Appellate Court
hearings. The Court of Appeals ordered law-enforcement authorities
to locate and again arrest the businessman, dismissing his assurances
that he will return to the country after completing the treatment.

According to Ashot Sargsian, the court convened a sitting on October
8 and decided to engage Gagik Hakobian into the legal proceedings.

Ashot Sargsian presented rejection to Judge Suren Ghazarian and
accused him of unbiased and objective treatment. The judge retired
to the consultation room.