"NO RIOTS TOOK PLACE ON MARCH 1"

aykakan-zhamanak
07:13 pm | October 21, 2009

Politics

Judge Mnatsakan Martirosian today decided that Prosecutor Koriun
Piloyan should not be removed from the trial of editor-in-chief of
Haykakan Zhamanak daily Nikol Pashinian.

After spending 2,5 hours in the retiring room, Judge Martirosian
dismissed the advocates’ motion for Piloyan’s recusal and explained
to the parties their rights and responsibilities.

Pashinian’s advocate Ervand Varosian thinks no mass disorders took
place on March 1, 2008.

"In the absence of a riot, neither Pashinian, nor anyone else can
be considered the perpetrator of the riot. If Pashinian is charged
under Article 225 of the Criminal Code, the accusation must be deeply
grounded," said the advocate.

Speaking of Article 316 of the Criminal Code, the advocate reminded
that the article was adopted in October 2007. "This article covers
those who have suffered from the actions of police and aims to rid
the police of responsibility," said the lawyer.

Varosian demanded that Judge Martirosian dismiss the criminal
proceedings against Pashinian. The judge ignored the advocate’s
request finding it premature.

The advocates asked for 10 minutes to discuss their further action.

After the recess, the trial was adjourned till October 22.

The advocates had announced earlier that they were not able to work
with their client in jail, since their conversation was being recorded.