THEY DEMAND JUDGE’S RESIGNATION

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[04:57 pm] 19 December, 2008

"Let’s honour the victims of March 1 with a minute of silence," Judge
Mnatsakan Martirosyan said at the beginning of today’s trail of the
case against seven opposition activists. Though the judge’s offer
was unanimously accepted, indignant shouts were heard throughout the
courtroom, "You killed them in order to honour later!’

The opposition leaders tried to calm them down.

At the beginning of the trial Judge Martirosyan presented the sides
their rights and the indictment. Shortly afterwards Stepan Voskanyan,
the advocate of Abovian’s former Mayor Grigor Voskerchyan, petitioned
the judge to tender a rejection. Voskanyan grounded his petition for
the3 fact that "Martirosyan has announced numerous indictments on
March 1 and suspended pre-trial restraints."

Shant Harutyunyan was very active at today’s trial. He filed a
petition to hear his case separately as he had fought against the
Russian Federation. He noted that on March 1 desperate people had
begged asylum from the Russian Embassy. Meanwhile, a man was shot
dead in front of the embassy. According to Shant Harutyunyan the
shot might have been fired by the embassy employees. Therefore, Shant
Harutyunyan urged to invite the embassy representatives to the trial.

Shant Harutyunyan and Mnatsakan Martirosyan soon started a heated
argument. Ex Foreign Minister Alexandre Arzumanyan called the judge
to order and said, "If you say in the name of Armenia, do not forget
that we were the founders of the Republic of Armenia!" He reminded that
as a foreign minister he had signed a number of agreements, and Judge
Mnatsakan Martirosyan is bound to commit them and dismiss the case.

Prosecutor Koryun Piloyan found the petition ungrounded. The court
has retired to consider the petition.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress