Armenian prime minister appears in court to give testimony
03.04.2019,
16:56
Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was summoned today before a lower Yerevan court judge to give testimony regarding an incident that occurred during the 2017 parliamentary elections campaign.
YEREVAN, April 3. /ARKA/. Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan was summoned today before a lower Yerevan court judge to give testimony regarding an incident that occurred during the 2017 parliamentary elections campaign.
On March 31, 2017, at about 22:40, a group of activists from the election headquarters of Pashinyan-led Yelk bloc were attacked by Arthur Ayvazyan nicknamed "Monk" in front of a residential building in Yerevan. The Monk is known for being sentenced to 15 years in prison for assassinating in 2001 Samvel Arakelyan, who was one of the most important witnesses in the 1999 shooting of the Armenian parliament.
After the attack on Yelk activists, Nikol Pashinyan posted a video on the network, showing a makeshift pistol that was seized from the attacker. The pistol was then handed to the police, who detained the attacker.
“I learned about the incident from Alen Simonyan and went immediately to the scene of the incident, where I saw our activists Hayk Sargsyan being attacked. The cause of the incident, as I remember, was the flag taken from our activist. I raised the weapon left by Ayvazyan and went live. The weapon was handed over to the police station a few days later, "said Pashinyan.
Pashinyan said he didn’t thoroughly remember all the details of the incident, and asked the court to take into account the testimony he had given immediately after the incident.
After appearing in court, Pashinyan told reporters that he had fulfilled his civic duty. “I think that every citizen of Armenia, when he/she receives a notification from the investigator or judge, is obliged to go and see them” said Pashinyan.
The Armenian parliament shooting, commonly known in Armenia as October 27, was a terrorist attack on the Armenian National Assembly in the capital Yerevan on October 27, 1999, by a group of five armed men led by Nairi Hunanyan that killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan, a government minister and five lawmakers.-0-
On March 31, 2017, at about 22:40, a group of activists from the election headquarters of Pashinyan-led Yelk bloc were attacked by Arthur Ayvazyan nicknamed "Monk" in front of a residential building in Yerevan. The Monk is known for being sentenced to 15 years in prison for assassinating in 2001 Samvel Arakelyan, who was one of the most important witnesses in the 1999 shooting of the Armenian parliament.
After the attack on Yelk activists, Nikol Pashinyan posted a video on the network, showing a makeshift pistol that was seized from the attacker. The pistol was then handed to the police, who detained the attacker.
“I learned about the incident from Alen Simonyan and went immediately to the scene of the incident, where I saw our activists Hayk Sargsyan being attacked. The cause of the incident, as I remember, was the flag taken from our activist. I raised the weapon left by Ayvazyan and went live. The weapon was handed over to the police station a few days later, "said Pashinyan.
Pashinyan said he didn’t thoroughly remember all the details of the incident, and asked the court to take into account the testimony he had given immediately after the incident.
After appearing in court, Pashinyan told reporters that he had fulfilled his civic duty. “I think that every citizen of Armenia, when he/she receives a notification from the investigator or judge, is obliged to go and see them” said Pashinyan.
The Armenian parliament shooting, commonly known in Armenia as October 27, was a terrorist attack on the Armenian National Assembly in the capital Yerevan on October 27, 1999, by a group of five armed men led by Nairi Hunanyan that killed Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, parliament speaker Karen Demirchyan, a government minister and five lawmakers.-0-
