Serzh Sargsyan should give testimony in court - says defendant
Serzh Sargsyan must be summoned to court and give evidence during the court sitting in the case of political activist Shant Harutyunyan and his friends, Armen Hovhannisyan, one of the defendants said during today’s sitting. Hovhannisyan said he could not understand Sargsyan’s statement made at Columbia University in which he said that Harutyunyan and his friends had committed a crime and should be held accountable. Armen Hovhannisyan considers himself to be a political prisoner who is prosecuted for his political ideas. “There is one opposition in Armenia and that opposition is sitting here, in this hall,” he said. Hovhannisyan also spoke about the prosecutor’s demand to give seven years of imprisonment for Shant Harutyunyan, and five years for his teenage son, Shahen Harutyunyan. “Shahen simply tried to protect his father,” he said. In his testimony, Shahen Harutyunyan admitted that on November 5, 2013, he had hit a policeman to protect his father and did not regret it. If he appeared in the same situation again, he would do the same. As soon as Shahen finished his speech, his father kissed him saying, “Look at my son, this is how you should bring up your children.”
