Today, at the Shengavit Jurisdictional Court, the judge presiding at the trial of the "March 1st Seven" postponed proceedings for the fifth time so far. Once again, the defendants refused to rise as the judge entered the courtroom and the judge ordered a postponment on the grounds that the dendendants, Myasnik Malkhasyan, Alexander Arzumanian, Hakob Hakobyan, Sasoun Mikayelyan, Grigor Voskerchyan, Souren Sirounyan and Shant Harutyunyan, showed disrespect towards the institution of the court. After the abrupt end to the session, people filing out of the courtroom tried to make it into the street to start a march but were blocked by police and special forces employees wearing red berets. Those individuals who did not follow the orders of law enforcement and who attempted to break free of the police cordon were met with blows. Gayane Aroustamyan, the lawyer representing Hakob Hakobyan, told reporters that her client suffers from severe health issues, most notably excruciating and constant abdominal pains, but that he hasn't been taken to the hospital for treatment. She commented, "They don't transfer him to the hospital but they bring him to the trial sessions." The lawyer also noted that, "The government is solely engaged in substantiating the charges of the prosecutor. These charges were never substantiated during the preliminary investigation nor will they be afterwards. According to Zaruhi Postanjyan, a Heritage Party Deputy, the reason for the delaying tactics is to afford the regime a way out of the dead end it has created. "They are looking for a way out. As a result of all these delays the European Council may enact punitive measures," she noted.