While the date as to when Armenia’s Court of Appeals will review the case of Jirayr Sefilyan, sentenced on March 20 of this year to ten years and five months on charges of preparing to foment public disorder, illegal arms possession, and conspiracy to seize government buildings, is not yet known, we do know that Judge Rouzanna Barseghyan will preside and will be assisted by judges Mkhitar Papoyan and Manoushak Petrosyan.
The ongoing trial, in Yerevan, of Jirayr Sefilyan and six others charged in 2016 with illegal arms purchase and possession and with conspiracy to seize government buildings in Yerevan remains a scene of contention both inside the court and outside.
Today, on August 6 th , Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan of the Kentron and Nork Marash Court of First Instance handed down guilty verdicts against Zhirayr Sefilyan, Commander of the Shushi Special Battalion, Vardan Malkhasyan, a member of the “Fatherland and Honor” political party and Karabakh freedom fighter Vahan Aroyan.
The trial of Zhirayr Sefilyan, Vardan Malkhasyan and Vahan Aroyan, which had begun on July 2, was resumed on July 11 at the Court of First Instance of the Kentron and Nork-Marash districts of Yerevan. After Judge Mnatsakan Martirosyan had rejected numerous challenges submitted by the defense attorneys and after several statements had been made, the court proceedings finally entered the main examination phase.
I would like to thank you for your initiative in investigating the real reasons of my and other political arrests in our country. I have refused to give any comments to the official investigating bodies, so thank you for giving me a chance to answer your questions.
Jirair Sefilyan's friends firmly believe that he has been isolated because of the parliamentary elections, since he has numerous followers and could have become a pivot for uniting the opposition.
Armenian Volunteers Unit, Yerevan, Armenia -- December 19, 2006
At about 10:30 or 11:00 at night on December 9, 2006, ten masked officers of the National Security Service burst into Beijing Restaurant on Tumanyan Street where Jirair Sefilyan and his Lebanese- Armenian friend Ralf Yirikyan, a citizen of Lebanon and the executive director of the company Vivacell, and their wives were having dinner.
An interview with Jirair Sefilyan's wife, Nanor Barseghyan