In connection with the decision of the Armenian Court of Appeal to uphold a verdict against the editor-in-chief of "Haykakan Zhamanak" Nikol Pashinyan, the Armenian National Congress (ANC) issued a statement accusing the judge in cooperation with authorities. "Upholding a verdict against Nikol Pashinyan unchanged, the court has once again executed an order of the Armenian authorities," the ANC statement said.
The ANC declared that will continue to fight for the freedom of Nikol Pashinyan and other political prisoners. The editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Nikol Pashinyan was sentenced to seven years imprisonment. The Yerevan court of first instance, court of Kentron and Nork-Marash found Nikol Pashinyan guilty (Part 1 Article 225 of the Criminal Code – rioting), and sentenced him to 7 years imprisonment to be served in the criminal executive institutions of the ministry of justice.
However, the judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan acquitted Pashinyan on charges of committing a crime envisaged by part 1, article 316 of the Criminal Code (violence towards a representative of the authority).
