Defense lawyer Hovhannes Khudoyan, representing Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, stated that “the authorities have halted a political opposition movement through the use of force.”
According to Khudoyan, after reviewing the case materials, it became clearer that the views expressed in the Investigative Committee’s released audio recordings were purely theoretical discussions about the structure of the state, unrelated to the current government or its members, Pastinfo reports.
“The publicly released recordings by the Investigative Committee are clearly edited, as they differ from the content of materials provided to us during the investigation,” he stressed.
Khudoyan noted that the editing was done unprofessionally and that the published materials primarily served as political propaganda. The defense does not trust the objectivity of the recordings, but even in those, he said, there is nothing illegal or unlawful. Essentially, the discussions were about initiating an organized street protest, which, according to Khudoyan, the authorities simply stopped through force.
Commenting on whether any opposition activity could be classified as preparation for terrorism, Khudoyan said: “Any movement that has even a slight chance of hindering the authorities can be met with such countermeasures.”
He also pointed out that those involved in the case represent various target groups — clergymen, an Artsakh MP, the father of a fallen soldier, a young woman. Khudoyan recalled that the Investigative Committee’s propaganda materials mentioned the names of people unrelated to the case, which, he argued, aimed to later expand the scope of prosecution. Examples included Ishkhan Saghatelyan, Levon Kocharyan, Samvel Karapetyan, as well as attempts to produce materials about the Republican Party of Armenia.
“In other words, they are trying to connect everyone to a subject that is not even a real issue, using it as political blackmail, so that at some point it could also be used against them,” the lawyer said.
The preliminary investigation into the criminal case against Archbishop Bagrat and others has been declared completed. The Investigative Committee reported that materials related to 18 defendants were separated and sent to the prosecutor to approve the indictment and forward the case to court.
The 18 defendants face charges of preparing terrorism and usurping state power. They include Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan, Armenian Revolutionary Federation Bureau member Igor Sargsyan, Tavush Diocese press secretary Lidia Mantashyan, Artsakh National Assembly MP Davit Galstyan, Colonel Mihran Makhsudyan, Movses Sharbatyan, Ara Rostomyan, Aghvan Arshakyan, blogger Armen Aleksanyan, Karo Okomushyan, Tigran Topalyan, businessman Tigran Galstyan, Deacon Hrayr Hakobyan, and Arsen Ghazaryan. Later, Artur Sargsyan was also arrested in the same case. By decision of the Court of Appeals, Deacon Hrayr was later released.
