22.09.2000, MEDIAMAX, YEREVAN. On September 21 the court process on the case of the terrorist act against RNK President Arkady Ghukasian began with the discussion of the statements of the accused – Samvel Babayan, Levon Mirzoyan, Erik Faramazian and S. Babayan’s lawyer Zhudeks Shakarian – about their refusal of further participation in the process.
As the correspondent of MEDIAMAX reports from Stepanakert, Prosecutor Vahram Avakian assessed the statements of the accused as contradicting law demands. According to him, the accused may not be present in the process if the sentence for the executed crime is not imprisonment. In this case, however, the crime is considered as one of the severest, which surely predicts imprisonment, noted the state prosecutor. Thus, stressed Avakian, the compliance with the requests of the defendants not to be present in the process would contradict the law and would impede the impartial court investigation.
The court refused the requests of the accused and the lawyer after some consultations. The chairman warned the lawyers Zh. Shakarian and E. Chinarian for “putting artificial obstacles in the course of the process”.
The trial of the accused of the terrorist act of March 22 against RNK president Arkady Ghukasian started on September 18 in Stepanakert. The main accused of the case is the RNK ex defense minister, Lieutenant-General Samvel Babayan. -0-
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