The lawyer for Ararat Khandoyan, charged with striking an officer of the law on July 20, 2016 during a clash between protesters and police in Yerevan’s Sari Tagh neighborhood, has petitioned the Court of Appeals to overturn a lower court’s ruling that his client should continue to be held in pre-trial detention.

Attorney Ara Gharagyozyan told Hetq that the court’s decision to prolong the detention of his client while awaiting trial was illegal given that Khandoyan wasn’t present at the time.

“In addition, we have no written document regarding the continuation of detention, just the judge’s say so. This contravenes Article 5 of the European Convention,” Gharagyozyan said.