Yesterday at the general court of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan the court trial of March 1 case was held. The judge of the trail was the judge of March 1 trial Mnatsakan Martirosyan – Matso.
Yesterday he introduced himself as the judge of the general court of Kentron and Nork-Marash communities of Yerevan and that he was going to conduct the court trial of the case of 7. According to the A1 plus under a recent structural reform of the Armenian judiciary approved by the parliament, the Criminal Procedure Code and other specialized tribunals have been disbanded and replaced by general courts of first instance. The change took effect on March 1 and meant that the so-called “case of the seven” would be taken up by the court of first instance of Yerevan’s Kentron and Nork-Marash districts. Despite that, the Criminal Court of Shengavit district continued the trial on Wednesday, March 4. The judge in the case, Mnatsakan Martirosyan came forth with clarifications about the amendments to Criminal Procedure Code under which defendants can be removed from the courtroom in case they demonstrate disrespect for the Court. The Judge’s statement aroused protest among the defendants. Jailed former foreign minister Alexander Arzumanyan began enumerating the contradictions in the Code caused by the amendments. Arzumanyan noted that this conflicted with Article 23 of the Code which states that the presence of all parties to an ongoing court case is mandatory. Thus he declared that the court must abide to Article 23 since contradictory changes introduced complicate rather than ameliorate matters. It appeared that Judge Martirosyan was unable to clarify the apparent contradiction in the Code. You ignore the Code. We suggest fixing all contradictions and applying to the National Assembly. Upon the Prosecutor’s request the National Assembly introduced amendments to the Code but I see numerous contradictions. Our illiterate MPs have exposed the Court to danger,” he said. Another defendant, parliament deputy Miasnik Malkhasyan said: “Probably you are short of time and cannot study the amendments. You have been transferred to another court and we advise you to seize the opportunity and tender a resignation.” After the defendants’ speeches the advocates motioned for the Judge’s resignation. The motion was supported by the relatives of the March 1 victims. Koryun Piloyan, the chief trial prosecutor, backed the judge and accused the oppositionists and their lawyers of deliberately dragging out the proceedings. Judge Martirosyan called a two hour recess to examine and pass sentence on the motion made by Advocate Simonyan. After the recess the Judge went ahead with the trial and removed defendants Shant Harutyunyan and Alexander Arzumanyan for intervening with the court hearing and showing disrespect for the Judge. Before that, Harutyunyan had announced that in case something happens to his family the Russian services are to be blamed. The Judge’s decision was followed by the defendants’ calls for the Judge’s refusal. Ignoring their protests, Judge Martirosyan made a decision to adjourn the trial till March 9.