The former commander of the Defense Army, Jalal Harutyunyan, declared in court that he is refusing his defenders. The representative of the victims’ legal successors, Liparit Simonyan, told Iravaban.net in a conversation that since the statute of limitations on the case will soon expire, he sees intent in Jalal Harutyunyan’s actions.

“During the previous court session, when the defenders brought a complaint, they had not attached the recording disc of the court sessions, and I think it was intentional, so that the complaint would be returned to correct the technical error, and they are professional lawyers of a very high level who would not accidentally make such a violation. Today during the court session, Jalal Harutyunyan’s application was published stating that he is very dissatisfied with his defenders and is refusing them. He had noted such things about them that it was simply surprising, and he asked the court to postpone the session to involve new defenders for himself,” he said.

Liparit Simonyan reminds that the statute of limitations for the charge expires on October 12.

“In my opinion, he understands very well that the accusation is well-founded and the verdict against him, regarding guilt, is proven and he did not see a basis for reversal. What remains for him is to delay the court session so that he can take advantage of the termination of the case proceedings or exemption from serving the sentence based on the expiration of the statute of limitations. That is the goal. The prosecutor also believes that the case examination is being deliberately delayed,” he said.

Arsen Sardaryan, one of Jalal Harutyunyan’s defenders, told Iravaban.net in a conversation that he will not comment on what happened.

Let us recall that the Lieutenant General was charged under part 3 of Article 550 of the RA Criminal Code. According to the indictment, Jalal Harutyunyan has been charged with negligent and careless attitude toward the performance of his official duties while occupying the position of commander of the Defense Army on October 12, 2020, which led to serious consequences.

On January 15, the Syunik Regional Court found him guilty. The accusation relates to the losses incurred as a result of the enemy attack on the D-20 division of the “Tsori” military unit on October 12, 2020.

Hasmik Sargsyan