DEFENDANT STATES THAT ARMENIAN EX-PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE HAS NO CONNECTION WITH ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT AGAINST FELLOW CONTENDER
June 07, 2013 | 15:03
YEREVAN. – The court hearing into the case on the assassination
attempt against Paruyr Hayrikyan reconvened on Friday.
The defendants in the case are former presidential contender Vardan
Sedrakyan as well as Khachatur Poghosyan and Samvel Harutyunyan.
Taxi driver Karen Zakaryan, who allegedly drove Khachatur Poghosyan
away after he shot Hayrikyan, testified that he does not remember
Poghosyan, the Sirunyan Law Office told Armenian News-NEWS.am.
Defendant Samvel Harutyunyan, on the other hand, announced that
Sedrakyan has no connection with the assassination attempt, and that
they had given false testimony against him.
In his turn, Sedrakyan’s attorney, Aleksandr Sirunyan, stated that the
prosecution has not yet submitted the grounds for the charges that are
laid against his client. In Sirunyan’s view, Sedrakyan’s connection to
the assassination attempt against Hayrikyan is not only disputable,
but there is no indirect evidence in this respect, either. In this
case, as per the attorney, the trial cannot continue in this way.
As Armenian News-NEWS.am informed earlier, opposition National
Self-Determination Union Chairman, ex-presidential candidate Paruyr
Hayrikyan was wounded as a result of an assassination attempt that
was staged against him on January 31 at around 11:20pm in downtown
Yerevan, in front of his home, and during the campaign season for
the presidential election that was held on February 18. First, he was
transferred to capital city Yerevan’s Surb Grigor Lusavorich (Saint
Gregory the Illuminator) Medical Center, where he was operated on.
Subsequently, he was taken to the rehabilitation center of the Armenian
Red Cross Society. Next, Hayrikyan headed to Belgium for treatment,
and he underwent a surgery there.
In the criminal case that was launched into this assassination
attempt, ex-presidential candidate, non-party affiliate, and epic
poetry specialist Vardan Sedrakyan-who is imprisoned-is charged with
organizing the attempted murder of a state, political, or a public
figure. Also, Khachatur Poghosyan is charged with attempted murder of
a state, political, or a public figure and with illegal acquiring,
possession and use of a weapon; and Samvel Harutyunyan is charged
with attempted murder of a state, political, or a public figure.
News from Armenia – NEWS.am