Court appoints public defenders in Zhirair Sefilyan's case

In Yerevan, a court has continued a trial in the case against Zhirair Sefilyan. A court hearing has been held in the absence of six out of seven defendants, including Zhirair Sefilyan himself. In the courtroom, there was only one defendant who testified against the oppositionist and his defence, the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent reports.

The "Caucasian Knot" has informed that at the court hearing held on June 30, the judge removed Zhirair Sefilyan, Gevorg Safaryan, Nerses Pogosyan, and Grair Topchyan from the courtroom for 10 hours for contempt of court and applied sanctions to their defenders.

Today, Judge Tatevik Grigoryan has ordered to bring Zhirair Sefilyan to the courtroom. According to her, the court intended to receive an answer to the question about the defendant's defence. The Judge has asked the oppositionist if he had other advocates, since his two defenders missed the court hearings for the third time in a row.

Despite the oppositionist had waived the services of a public defender, the Judge decided to replace both advocates and sent a request to the Bar Association to provide the defendant with a public defender. The Judge did not take into account the fact that in particular, Ara Zakaryan, an advocate of Zhirair Sefilyan, had informed the court about his absence at the court hearing due to his participation in another court hearing.

Judge Tatevik Grigoryan has made the same decision with regard to Nerses Pogosyan, another figurant of the case. The Judge has pronounced the decision to replace his two advocates with a public defender, despite the Nerses Pogosyan's objection.

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