Six members of "Sasna Tsrer" left in custody

The Armenian Court of Appeal has dismissed the appeal filed against the decision on the arrest of six members of the group "Sasna Tsrer" (Daredevils of Sassoun). The consideration of the complaints filed about the detention of three other persons involved in the seizure of the police regiment building in Yerevan has been postponed, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

In the period of July 17-31, an armed group "Sasna Tsrer", organized by supporters of the opposition movement "Constituent Parliament", captured the building of the patrol-and-post service of the police regiment in Yerevan. The rebels held hostage inside the building. By July 30, all the hostages were released, and on July 31, members of the armed group "Sasna Tsrer" surrendered to the authorities. The charges are brought against 47 persons involved as defendants in the criminal case of the seizure of the police building.

Advocates of the arrested people claimed inconsistency of the court's decisions to leave the defendants in custody.

In particular, Arutyun Bagdasaryan, an advocate of Pavel Manukyan, has told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the judge had justified the decision to leave Pavel Manukyan in custody by the likelihood of his escaping and obstructing the investigation.

"For me, such a justification is strange. How can a person with severe injuries to his both legs be able to leave Armenia and hide from investigators or interfere with the investigation when he is in need of medical treatment?" said the defender.

The advocate believes that the court's decision was not of legal, but of political nature.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.