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"Soap bubble pricked"
[08:39 pm] 13 March, 2009
The chase, criminal charges and action against Armenia’s ex deputy
Prosecutor General Gagik Jhangiryan are artificial,’ said Jhangiryan’s
lawyers in the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan’s Kentron
district.
Lawyers Lusine Sahakyan and Erwand Varosyan read out their speech for
two hours citing the witnesses, Armenia’s Criminal Code, Constitution
and the European Charter on Human Rights. Relying on the facts they
substantiated that Gagik Jhangiryan was prosecuted
illegally. Moreover, the lawyers say he is tied for his political
stance rather than for an alleged crime.
Lusine Sahakyan cited the Prosecutor’s statement according to which
`Jhangiryan is dangerous for the country in the given political
scene.’ The Lawyers announced that numerous laws have been violated in
view of their client: the force applied against the Jhangiryan
brothers was inadequate and unlawful. Gagik Jhangiryan had been
detained by masked men in accordance with a well-planned scenario.
Their car had been stopped illegally, and the masked men assaulted on
them breaking the car windows with guns. They dragged out the brothers
of the car and threw them to the ground with the butt of automatic
machines. Then shots were fired by the masked policemen which was
later proved during the judicial inquiry. The court was unable to
prove that Jhangiryan had done violence to a government representative,
as the episode is only confirmed by Arman Harutyunyan and Tigran
Aghvanyan `subjected to violence’ Lusine Sahakyan noted in her speech
that the Prosecutor had many times perverted the evidence and
distorted the facts giving arbitrary interpretations. The Lawyer asked
the court to return Gagik Jhangiryan innocent and reach a verdict of
non-guilty.
She also advised the judge not to forget about his oath in the
jury-room. `Let’s wait and see whether you perform the oath,’ Lusine
Sahakyan concluded her speech.
Gagik Jhangiryan thanked his lawyers that they were able `to burst the
soap bubble.’
Gagik Jhangiryan will make a speech at 12, on March 18.