Heritage Party has disseminated a statement wherein it condemns the court verdict that has convicted Shant Haroutiunyan, an activist and leader of Tseghakron Party. According to the Party, hooliganism was false incrimination and the term in prison is not proportional.
"Most of the people - who followed the trial against Shant Haroutiuyan and his teammates - fairly expected the court to announce a non-guilty verdict for lack of evidence of guilt. However, everything has changed after the notorious speech by de-facto president Serzh Sargsyan at Columbia University, U.S., where he qualified Haroutiounyan as a criminal, which contravene the presumption of the innocence. Inherently, it has become a verdict against 14 participants in the trial," the party statement reads.
Heritage Party considers the court verdict as politically motivated and against freedom of speech and freedom of political affiliation. The authors of the statement say that Shant Haroutiunyan like the actor Vardan Petrosyan and freedom-fighter Volodya Avetisyan are political prisoners.
To note, Leader of Tseghakron Party Shant Harutyunyan has been sentenced to 6 years in prison and his son Shahen Harutyunyan has been given a 4-year suspended sentence. The verdict was delivered on October 17 by the court of general jurisdiction of Kentron and Nork Marash communities of Yerevan. Vahe Mkrtchyan, one of Shant Harutyunyan's teammates, has been sentenced for 7 years in jail, Albert Sarkaryan - 6 years, Sevak Mnatsakanyan - 5.5 years, retired Lieutenant Colonel Vardan Vardanyan, Liparit Petrosyan and Avetis Avetisyan - 5 years, Hayk Harutyunyan - 4.5 years, Alex Poghosyan and Mkrtich Hovhannisyan - 4 years. Armen Hovhannisyan, who served in the Armenian army for 20 years, has been sentenced to 2 years in jail, and Tigran Petrosyan has been given a 1-year sentence. All them were arrested following the 5 Nov 2013 rally and the clashes with the police in Liberty Square.