Almost all eyewitnesses present at the trial of editor-in-chief of "Haykakan Zhamanak" daily Nikol Pashinyan say that they don't recognize Pashinyan, but have heard him when he said "be armed with whatever you can."
Eyewitness Laura Melkonyan from Artashat said that she had reached the Myasnikyan statue at around 1:40 p.m. and had seen David Shahnazaryan and deputy chief of police Sashik Afyan negotiating at Freedom Square. Pashinyan's advocates were not able to find out if Laura was at the Myasnikyan statue or Freedom Square.
She told the court that she had participated in the opposition rallies at Freedom Square sometimes, but she had come to Myasnikyan statue on March 1 to find out if Levon Ter-Petrosyan was going to come or not.
"I saw Pashinyan with the microphone in his hands, telling the people to remain where they were until Ter-Petrosyan came so we could win. I stayed there until 9:40 p.m. and then left because that was the last hour for my bus from Yerevan to Artashat."
Eyewitness Laura Melkonyan is the one who had also announced that the police had killed a child on March 1. In December 2008, "A1+" also had a chance to tape Melkonyan as she rested on the bench in the park near Myasnikyan statue.
Karen Kostanyan also testified in court today and was laughing after every sentence. He had stood on the "Willis" of the police on March 1 to see more clearly. "I had to take my children to the circus that day. After seeing what was going on, I called home and told them not to come. I work at the gold market and the action was nearby. I was interested. I don't know Pashinyan, but he announced to the people to defend themselves with anything they could find. I wanted to grab a piece of wood, but then I went home."
Lavrenti Galstyan, who has been sentenced to four years of conditional arrest for participating in the theft on March 1, also testified today in court. "I don't recognize him, but I have seen him," the eyewitness said as he saw Pashinyan. Galstyan was a worker at the Malatia market and had frequently participated in the rallies at Freedom Square. On March 1, he had gone to Myasnikyan statue with nearly 100-150 workers. "When the police came in the evening, the people were throwing stones at them. I also threw stones. There was nobody to tell us what to do. Nobody had to tell us anyway, we knew."
According to him, he saw a woman with a box in her hand. "She said that they had broken into a store and told me to go and get something to eat. I personally wouldn't break into that store, but since it was broken, I went and brought food for the people. Then I presented documents stating that my father was ill and my wife was pregnant and they released me."
Pashinyan's trial will continue on November 19 at 12 p.m. Let us remind that Pashinyan is charged with Article 225 of the Criminal Code for the events of March 1 and Article 316 of the Criminal Code for the events of October 2008.
