JAILED WAR VET TO TURN TO HIGHEST COURT AFTER LOSING APPEAL
HUMAN RIGHTS | 17.09.14 | 10:14
A retired army colonel intends to further seek justice at the highest
court after the lower Court of Appeal on Tuesday upheld the verdict
and sentence passed on him in July, according to the defense attorney.
Volodya Avetisyan was arrested a year ago, a few months after
organizing a lone protest to demand better social conditions for
veterans of the Karabakh war. Other war veterans joined the protest
later and at one point some of them began to make political demands
to the government.
Avetisyan was charged with fraud and a lower court in Yerevan convicted
him in July of having embezzled $2,000 from another man through a
false promise to have his grandson exempted from compulsory military
service. He was sentenced to six years in prison, which many human
rights activists said was too harsh a sentence.
Avetisyan’s supporters described the trial, verdict and sentence as
government retribution for his anti-government campaign. Lawyer Ara
Zakaryan described the decision by the Court of Appeal as “illegal”.
He told media they would continue the appeal process at the Court
of Cassation.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
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