Yesterday the trial of the case against seven opposition activists resumed without defendant Shant Harutyunyan in the court of Kentron and Nork-Marash. Harutyunyan’s relatives confirmed that his health condition has deteriorated of late but insisted that he is not mentally ill. They said the medical check-up ordered by the judge must be conducted only in their presence. Moreover, the two statements released by the penitentiary on March 7 differed from each other. The judge in the case, Mnatsakan Martirosyan, said there are “sufficient grounds to presume that defendant Shant Harutyunyan suffers from a mental illness” and needs to undergo a thorough psychiatric examination. Martirosyan pointed to a written statement by the administration of Yerevan’s Vardashen prison saying that Harutyunyan has been behaving “aggressively,” refusing food and making “undue statements” for the past several days. The statement cited the prison’s chief psychiatrist as saying that the arrested oppositionist, who was not brought into the courtroom, may be deranged. “Shant Harutyunyan behaves rather aggressively and pours obscene expressions on doctors. The defendant’s aggressive behavior can be resulted by a nervous disorder and psychological breakdown. Harutyunyan has been isolated. 24-hour supervision is conducted for him,” reads the prison statement. Shant Harutyunyan was brought to court but wasn’t allowed to enter the court room. Another less prominent defendant Suren Sirunyan said he had been in the same isolation ward with Shant Harutyunyan and stated that Shant doesn’t need a psychiatrist. He only needs proper medical examination. Sirunyan petitioned the court to take Shant Harutyunyan to an ordinary hospital. Martirosyan however without adverting to any mediation, decided to send Harutyunyan to court psychiatric recovery instead of mere medical aid. The judge also stated that he recesses the court litigation in terms of Harutyunyan till the recovery of his health state. “You have come up with a diagnosis. This is not your job,” another defendant, former Foreign Minister Aleksandr Arzumanyan, protested to Martirosyan. Arzumanyan’s lawyer, agreed, saying that the judge had no right to suspend the case against Harutyunyan without conclusive evidence of his alleged mental illness. “Until we have a conclusion of the psychiatric examination it will be premature to say that he suffers from a mental illness,” said Simonyan. “Therefore, the court should not have suspended proceedings against them.”
“You give capricious interpretation to the criminal code which can cause a nervous breakdown. By knowing that perfectly you are forbidding Harutyunyan to enter the court room. Meanwhile you could do that only after the conclusion of the experts,” claimed Myasnik Malkhasyan. The trial got off to a tense start, with Voskerchyan’s lawyer, Stepan Voskanyan, demanding the resignation of the presiding judge, Mnatsakan Martirosyan. The lawyer says Judge Martirosyan ignores the fact that his client, Grigor Voskerchyan, was beaten up in Yerevan’s Nubarashen prison shortly before the hearing in the controversial trial. The motion was supported by other advocates. Only the trial prosecutor, Koryun Piloyan, spoke against the motion. A recess was announced shortly afterwards. Yesterday’s court hearing on the case ended in the expulsion of Arzumanyan, Sirunyan and three other defendants from the courtroom after they vehemently protested against a statement made by one of the trial prosecutors. The judge construed this as contempt of the court and ruled that the five oppositionists will not be allowed to attend their trial for the next ten days. “At this moment you don’t have any conclusion like that so his case shouldn’t have been sponged,” said the attorney. The trial will continue today. Political prisoners of the Vardashen Penitentiary express concern about detainee Shant Harutyunyan’s ill health. On March 8, 2009, they issued a statement which holds, “We find Shant Harutyunyan’s health condition as critical and appeal you to render him an immediate medical assistance. Otherwise, we shall take unprecedented measures.” The Human Right and Democracy Institute (HRDI) also expressed their concern about the political detainee. “Shant Harutyunyan had been imprisoned for over a year; he refuses food by thinking that his state of health is attempted to be harmed through food or injections. In this regard we demand that the ministry of justice conducts an independent medical examination with participation of Harutyunyan’s relatives. We also demand that Harutyunyan is moved to a civil hospital. We find it important that Harutyunyan’s relatives take care of him as he only trusts them,” reads the HRDI statement.
P.S. Yesterday the Armenian National Congress made a statement about the court trial of the political detainees. “Sound evidence about the absurd trials of the political detainees is the recent statement of victim of the case of 7 Robert Baghdasaryan. It besides the judge is addressed to PACE rapporteur Thomas Hammarberg. Baghdasaryan, who received a gunshot injury on March 1 2008, specifically mentions in his statement that the investigators of the Special Investigative Body by benefiting from his weak health condition took such testimonies from him, which did not fit to reality. Thus they pressured him to give testimonies against his friends, who were fighting for democracy. Later the victim confesses that on March 1 the policemen, who he met, were armed and he got shot by a policeman’s bullet. He demanded to find the policeman, who shot him and also punish the investigators, who abused their rights. The Congress once again states that in the same manner all the fake cases will ruin brick by brick. We request all the judges, policemen and investigators to bring up such cases in order to ease their own state when these cases are revealed,” reads the statement.