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ARRESTED KARABAKH WAR VETERAN CLAIMS HE WAS OFFERED BRIBES TO STAY QUIET
03.27.2014 12:10 epress.am
Reserve Colonel, Karabakh War veteran Volodya Avetisyan, one of the
organizers of the struggle for the rights of war veterans, in May 2013
was promised a business in exchange for ending the veterans' struggle.
Avetisyan said this himself on March 26 in the Court of First Instance
of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts of Yerevan
presided over by Judge Levon Avetisyan.
Accused of taking bribes and in pre-trial detention since September
20, Avetisyan doesn't admit to the charges; moreover, he claims that
the charges against him are a result of political persecution.
The war veteran said that in May last year, when the sit-in demanding
a better socioeconomic situation for Karabakh War veterans began,
people from the wing of the ruling elite approached him and urged him
to abandon the idea of a sit-in. Instead, they promised him money and
a business, in both the capital and Etchmiadzin, as well as promising
to reinstate him in the system. Avetisyan says he refused the offer.
He said that he rejected the investigator's offer to be released on
the condition that he gives up the fight.
"I don't sell my soul and my homeland," he said, which was followed
by applause and shouts of "Volodya! Volodya!" in the courtroom.
Judge Avetisyan called for quiet in court; otherwise, he'll be forced
to hold the trial behind closed doors.
At the start of the trial, Avetisyan's attorney, Ara Zakaryan, filed
two motions with the judge -- to recuse himself and to release his
client due to lack of reasons to keep him in detention. Both motions
were rejected.
After this decision, the accused refused to answer the judge's
questions, while Zakaryan appealed to the judge to postpone the trial
and to provide him with the recordings of the court hearing. Returning
to the courtroom from the consultation room, the judge granted the
motion, postponing the court date to April 2 at 2 pm.
http://www.epress.am/en/2014/03/27/arrested-karabakh-war-veteran-claims-he-was-offered-bribes-to-stay-quiet.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv6jP3bwns8
03.27.2014 12:10 epress.am
Reserve Colonel, Karabakh War veteran Volodya Avetisyan, one of the
organizers of the struggle for the rights of war veterans, in May 2013
was promised a business in exchange for ending the veterans' struggle.
Avetisyan said this himself on March 26 in the Court of First Instance
of Arabkir and Kanaker-Zeytun Administrative Districts of Yerevan
presided over by Judge Levon Avetisyan.
Accused of taking bribes and in pre-trial detention since September
20, Avetisyan doesn't admit to the charges; moreover, he claims that
the charges against him are a result of political persecution.
The war veteran said that in May last year, when the sit-in demanding
a better socioeconomic situation for Karabakh War veterans began,
people from the wing of the ruling elite approached him and urged him
to abandon the idea of a sit-in. Instead, they promised him money and
a business, in both the capital and Etchmiadzin, as well as promising
to reinstate him in the system. Avetisyan says he refused the offer.
He said that he rejected the investigator's offer to be released on
the condition that he gives up the fight.
"I don't sell my soul and my homeland," he said, which was followed
by applause and shouts of "Volodya! Volodya!" in the courtroom.
Judge Avetisyan called for quiet in court; otherwise, he'll be forced
to hold the trial behind closed doors.
At the start of the trial, Avetisyan's attorney, Ara Zakaryan, filed
two motions with the judge -- to recuse himself and to release his
client due to lack of reasons to keep him in detention. Both motions
were rejected.
After this decision, the accused refused to answer the judge's
questions, while Zakaryan appealed to the judge to postpone the trial
and to provide him with the recordings of the court hearing. Returning
to the courtroom from the consultation room, the judge granted the
motion, postponing the court date to April 2 at 2 pm.
http://www.epress.am/en/2014/03/27/arrested-karabakh-war-veteran-claims-he-was-offered-bribes-to-stay-quiet.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bv6jP3bwns8