A court in Yerevan has decided to hold a public hearing in political activist Avetik Chalabyan’s case, his lawyer Varazdat Harutyunyan said.

“The court, presided over by judge Arusyak Aleksanyan, has granted a defense motion to make the hearing on the extension of Avetik Chalabyan’s arrest open to the public,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday.

Chalabyan was arrested on May 12 for allegedly trying to pay students of the Armenian National Agrarian University to participate in anti-government protests in Yerevan. He has denied the charges as politically motivated.