Shirkhanyan's health condition still critical - lawyer
The results of forensic examination of Vahan Shirkhanyan, a former Minister of Defense arrested in December 2015 on suspicion of being part of a criminal group which the National Security Service (NSS) claimed plotted to seize power, are not known yet. On March 17, Judge Armen Bektashyan postponed the hearing of the case and appointed a forensic medical examination to find out why Shirkhanyan did not attend the court sittings. Shirkhanyan, 69, denies the coup charges. Moreover, his lawyer Hayk Alumyan claimed that his client could not move on his own and law-enforcement authorities refused to transfer Shirkhanyan from prison to hospital. The lawyer insisted that Shirkhanyan needed a wheelchair. Despite the objections, a forensic medical examination was appointed and medical check-ups were conducted. Both Shirkhanyan and his documents were examined but the conclusion has not been received yet. The lawyer says Shirkhanyan’s health condition continues to deteriorate and there is no progress. On November 25, 2015, Armenia’s National Security Service (NSS) said it had uncovered a criminal gang in one of the house of Yerevan’s Nork district, which had hidden arms and ammunition inside the building. The NSS claimed that the gang planned to stage ‘serious crimes’ and that Artur Vardanyan, a citizen of Armenia living in Spain since 1997, was the mastermind of the gang. Shirkhanyan is one of the defendants in the case. He is charged with being an accomplice to the conspiracy. The NSS claimed afterwards that Vardanyan and his associates planned to seize the presidential administration, government, parliament, Constitutional Court and state television buildings in Yerevan.
