Lawyers say arrested activists are political prisoners

 Vice chairman of Heritage Party Armen Martirosyan, ex- spokesperson of the Party Hovsep Khurshudyan, activist of the Founding Parliament opposition initiative and member of "Barev, Yerevan" faction of the Elders' Council of Yerevan David Sanasaryan, as well as a member of the given initiative Karo Yeghnukyan are political prisoners and the charges brought against them is a political persecution, not criminal proceedings. The lawyers of the arrested activists made such statement talking to journalists on August 3. 

The lawyers say they have an impression that the charges made against the activists were written by amateurs, not professional lawyers. Karo Yeghnukyan's lawyer Tigran Hayrapetyan says his client is accused of disseminating data blackening the law-enforcers and seeking to help the members of the group that seized the police compound. Meantime, he says, the criminal laws in Armenia do not stipulate punishment for helping people. 

Givi Hovhannissyan, the lawyer of Heritage Party vice chairman Armen Martirosyan says his client is charged unlawfully, since "there were no mass disorders, but clashes provoked by the police." In addition, he says, it was evident that Armen Martirosyan tried to calm down the sides. The lawyer is sure that the authorities "isolate activists and involve their provocateurs to blacken the essence of the peaceful assemblies and the fair demands of the people."

The lawyer of Hovsep Khurshudyan, Seda Safaryan, is sure that the fake charges and dependence of the courts on the authorities will spark a new wave of complaints to the European Court for Human Rights.  David Sanasaryan's lawyer Robert Revazyan, in turn, says there is no video footage confirming the charges brought against his client. The case was fabricated on the testimonies of some police officers, Revazyan said blaming the authorities for "political persecution of their opponents."
The lawyers are going to dispute the court decisions on the arrests of their client just for legal regulations to be able to appeal to the ECHR later. They say the country lacks the system of checks and balances and the judiciary is too dependent on the authorities. 
Charges based on the following articles of the Criminal Code of Armenia have been brought against the group members: Article 218.1.3 (hostage taking) and Article 235.3 (illegal arms traffic).

The lawyer of the man who penetrated into the territory of the seized compound by his car and delivered food and medicines to the group members has faced the same charges as the group members.

To recall, under the criminal case initiated in the Investigative Department of National Security Service of Armenia related to military seizure of Police Patrol Service Regiment building by Daredevils of Sasoun group on July 17, 2016 47 people have been detained or arrested. 24 of them are charged with hostage taking.  Most of the detainees disclaim the charges brought against them.  At present, most of the group members are in detention facilities, while some are in the hospital of prisoners and one is in the intensive care unit in an ordinary hospital.  Several of then have been arrested.