Four advocates boycott court hearing in "Sasna Tsrer" case

On July 3, the court hearing in the case against 18 members of the unit "Sasna Tsrer" (Daredevils of Sassoun) took place in a tense atmosphere. The court repeatedly interrupted the hearing. This was reported by the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent, who attended the trial.

At the court hearing on July 3, the judge applied a sanction against advocate Karapet Badalyan, who left the courtroom without the judge's permission.

The advocates who attended the court hearing submitted a motion to postpone the consideration. The defence has stated that it is inadmissible to hold hearings in the absence of the advocates, whom, according to them, were unreasonably refused by court officials in entering the court building.

"The law regulates the presence of advocate. Otherwise, the defendants' rights to defence are violated," announced advocate Grisha Balasanyan.

However, the judge has refused to grant the motion. "At the pre-trial stage, the presence of all advocates is not necessary," stated Artush Gabrielyan.

The judge's statement provoked indignation of the defence. Three advocates Araik Papikyan, Nina Karapetyants, and David Gyurdjyan left the courtroom in protest.

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