Advocates of four defendants boycott session on case of Armenian oppositionist Sefilyan

At the fourth session on the case of the oppositional leader Zhirayr Sefilyan, he and three other defendants were removed from the courtroom for contempt of the court. Then, their advocates also left the courtroom. The judge intends to bring advocates to disciplinary responsibility.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the third session on the case of Zhirayr Sefilyan, the leader of the movement "100 years without regime", and six other defendants was held on June 27. The judge removed the defendants Gevorg Safaryan, Zhirayr Sefilyan and Nerses Pogosyan from the courtroom and applied sanctions to their advocates.

On June 30, the sitting of the Shengavit Court of Yerevan was again held in a tense atmosphere. Sefilyan's advocate Tigran Airapetyan started a squabble with court marshals, by again refusing to produce his bag for inspection. In his opinion, court marshals go beyond the law.

Tigran Egoryan, an advocate of Gevorg Safaryan, stated at the session that, according to his data, the defendants were physically abused in the courthouse.

Later, the defendants Sefilyan, Safaryan, Pogosyan and Topchyan refused to stand up at the judge's entrance. Judge Tatevik Grigoryan treated their actions as disrespect of the court and removed them from the courtroom for ten hours.

A defendant has the right to select an advocate for efficient defence of his interests; and the court should not treat an advocate's departure as a sufficient ground for his removal from the trial, said Robert Revazyan, a lawyer of Armenia's Helsinki Committee.

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