Court did not announce verdict in Volodya Avetisyan's case (video)
A Yerevan court was to announce on July 17 its verdict in a fraud case that involves retired army colonel Volodya Avetisyan However, the sitting was adjourned as Judge Levon Avetisyan did not attend the hearing because of ill health. Attorney Ara Zakaryan believes that the authorities are simply trying to gain time. At the same time the lawyer did not exclude that the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan’s Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun districts may find Volodya Avetisyan guilty and send him to prison for five years. Anyway, the lawyer says they will appeal the verdict in a higher court. The sitting was attended by Nikol Pashinyan, a lawmaker of the Armenian National Congress (HAK) parliamentary group. Volodya Avetisyan on September 20, 2013, on suspicion of receiving $2000 from an official of the Ministry of Defense for assistance to free an Armenian citizen from military service. Before the arrest, Avetisyan actively participated in sit-down strikes and other protest actions, demanding that the government pay greater attention to the social and economic needs of former Artskah War soldiers.
