A bit earlier, Judge Gagik Poghosyan found 18 year-old Vahagn Gevorgyan guilty of "insulting and using physical force against a representative of the state". The young man was sentenced to 1 year imprisonment and fined 80,000 AMD. Immediately after the passing of sentence, however, Vahagn Gevorgyan was pardoned and set free. "I will be fully exonerated of any guilt. But this will take place in European tribunals, not in Armenia," was the comment made by Mr. Gevorgyan to "Hetq". In his statement to the court, the defendant had expressed his thanks to those who had pursued him. ‘By their actions they once again proved that my stance as a citizen was correct and just. By my actions I want to assist the creation of such an Armenia where the children of those who persecuted me unjustly will not be assaulted by their ilk," declared Vahagn Gevorgyan in court. Mr. Gevorgyan was charged solely on the testimony of a few police officers who claimed that the young man assaulted them in the area of Northern Avenue for no acceptable reason.