Prisoners at the bar are liberals - says attorney (video)
Shahen Harutyunyan, the underage son of the jailed political activist Shant Harutyunyan, did not commit any hooliganism on November 5, 2013, Harutyunyan’s Attorney Inessa Petrosyan announced on Monday at the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts. “He [Shahen] only tried to free his father from the police by distracting their attention,” she said. Today, the attorneys were making defence speeches. Inessa Petrosyan underlined that bringing hooliganism charges against an underage boy and then demanding a five-year prison term for him is nothing but revenge. “He [Shahen Harutyunyan] was trying to dissuade his father from continuing the struggle, but no one wants to take into account that the people at the bar are liberals,” she stressed. The next court sitting is scheduled for October 1 Shant Harutyunyan was arrested on November 5 as he attempted to head to the Presidential Office together with a group of supporters to ‘blow up the building’ as he had earlier stated. He was immediately charged under Article 316.2 of the Criminal Code of Armenia (violence against a representative of the authorities that is dangerous for life or health). However, in April 2014, the charges against political activist were replaced with Article 258 Section 4 (hooliganism committed with a weapon or another item used as a weapon). Harutyunyan faces up to 7 years in prison under new charges.
