Serob Bozoyan does not have money for major surgery
The man given a one-year prison sentence for last May's unexpected explosion of thousands of balloons during a campaign rally in Yerevan needs urgent surgery but the issue still remains unsettled. Serob Bozoyan is suffering from cancer and his condition has reportedly deteriorated in recent weeks.
As Bozoyan's lawyer, Karen Manucharian, informed Pastinfo.am doctors have doubled the price of the surgery, driving the desperate and unemployed man [Bozoyan] to a terrible plight.
In October 2012 the Court of General Jurisdiction of Yerevan's Kentron and Nork-Marash administrative districts sentenced Serob Bozoyan to one year in prison after finding him guilty of May 2011 balloon blast in downtown Yerevan. Hundreds of gas balloons exploded in the capital's Republic Square on May 4, 2011, during an election campaign meeting organized by the ruling Republican Party of Armenia (HHK). The explosion was followed by fire, with melted rubber falling on the event participants. At least 228 were injured in the result. Some of the injured underwent plastic surgery. The court ruled that Bozoyan, who sold the gas balloons to the organizers of the rally, was the only person responsible for the blasts. The 54-year-old was found guilty of manufacturing and selling goods not meeting safety standards.
During his trial, Bozoyan pleaded guilty to a charge of negligence and apologized to the people who were injured during the mass explosions of balloons though his lawyer announced that the organizers of the gathering had been warned about the possible blast.
Bozoyan is disputing the verdict in the Court of Appeals.
