The hearing in the case of Arush Arushanyan, Harut Lalazaryan, Erik Aghajanyan and Samvel Dinunts took place today, on 9 June, at the Criminal Court of Appeals.

According to Iravaban.net, the defense side objected to the petition submitted by the journalist regarding video recording and taking photos of the court session. The court inquired from both the lawyers and Arush Arushanyan about the reason.

“There is no desire, because different media describe it in different ways, put different photos, write different comments,” the defendant said.

Davit Karapetyan, one of the defenders, added that if the court finds it necessary to take photos, then the photo and video recording of the defense side should be excluded. The court, presided over by Armen Hovhannisyan, composed of Sergey Marabyan and Karen Amiryan, decided to allow only taking photos of the court and the prosecutors.

Then the court discussed the issue of granting permission to the defendant Arush Arushanyan to leave for the USA from 12 to 27 June. The Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA) invites him to high-level meetings with elected officials in the state of California, to act as a speaker and guest speaker at a meeting organized for communities.

Arushanyan added that he will have discussions with Armenians living in America in order to change the quality of life of the citizens living in the border zone, to attract investments. He also mentioned that the Mayor of Kapan was also invited to the meeting. The public prosecutors stated that they object to the petition, because the grounds for choosing the measure of restraint “signature not to leave” are still preserved.

The court announced a break, and after returning, announced that they had decided to grant the petition. Judge Armen Hovhannisyan mentioned that the court based the satisfaction of the petition on the fact that Arush Arushanyan received the invitation as the head of the community. The court also considered the public interest.

After the publication of the decision, the Chairman offered to listen to the observations of the defense side regarding the complaint of the prosecutors, and then the positions of the prosecutors regarding the defense side. Defense attorney Erik Aleksanyan was the first to present his comments in court. According to him, the submitted complaint is unfounded and subject to rejection. According to him, the testimony of Lusine Avetyan, head of the Karahunj settlement, was the basis of initial case, and no other incriminating evidence was presented in the 4 volumes of the case. Avetyan only gave an incriminating testimony for the 3rd, 4th and 5th time after her arrest. “Here we are dealing with the following unwritten rule, “Testimony in return for freedom.” This is what legal common sense suggests.”

Then Lusine Avetyan declared in the court that the incriminating statements given by her are not true. She gave them to break free from the ban.

“Apart from me and Mr. Arushanyan, no one here can fully imagine what a penitentiary institution means. In the event that the prison cell is only 5 by 4 and there is no possibility to take 6-7 steps. We are men, we can take it to some extent, but I think not all women have the opportunity to take it all. It was the penitentiary, the conditions there and the latter’s state of health that caused the latter to lie, as a result of which Arush Arushanyan was charged and detained for more than 8 months,” the lawyer noted, adding that the verdict of the first instance court was fair and is not subject to revocation.

Erik Aleksanyan, speaking about the penitentiary, also pointed out his “experience” of being there. The latter has the judicial status of a defendant in another case and was detained.

The working day ended, the court decided to postpone the session. Other defense attorneys will speak at the next court session, which will take place on 7 July at 12:30 p.m.

To remind, Arushanyan was found guilty of abusing official powers, intentionally causing moderate damage to health and arrogation by the judgment of the Court of General Jurisdiction of Syunik Marz on 28 March, 2022. The court decided to deprive the head of the community of the right to hold a position in local self-government bodies for a period of 5 years, to fine him in the amount of 700  minimum salary, and to impose a final sentence of imprisonment for a period of 6 months and 18 days, which was not applied conditionally. Lusine Avetyan, the head of the Karahunj settlement, and 2 of the defendants, Samvel Dinunts and Hrayr Baghdasaryan, were also acquitted, while Erik Aghajanyan and Harut Lalazaryan were found guilty.

Arushanyan was acquitted of the alleged electoral criminal acts attributed to him. The prosecutor’s office is now demanding to annul the judicial act of acquittal, make a new decision and declare the defendants in the case, including Arushanyan, guilty.